The Devil of Barden
by Smeg699
Summary: Strange happenings are going down at Barden University. Crime is on the rise and the authorities seem to be turning a blind eye to it. The status quo gets shaken up when a masked vigilante shows up at the school and starts investigating it all. Can the Devil of Barden figure out what's going on before trouble closes its noose around her neck?
1. Prologue

**A/N:** Well, here's that new thing that Zap had mentioned I was working on. I hope you guys will enjoy it. Whether or not it continues will be determined if there's an interest for it. Also, for those waiting, new chapters of The Timbre Reconfiguration are in the works and, hopefully, will be up soon. I hope everyone likes what I've here, please read and review.

* * *

 **Prologue**

The warm August air drifted across the moonlit campus of Barden University in south central New York, picking up some stray maple leaves that lay on the grass of the quad and wafting them back and forth playfully as it swirled around the nearly deserted square. As the wind found the walls of one of the many buildings fronting the quad, in this particular instance the Student Union building, it joined with other gusts coming down from the roof and picked up speed as it rushed along towards the corner of said building. Rounding the corner the wind, suddenly no longer constrained by the wall it had been buffeting against, burst free and scattered in many directions as it was wont to do. One gust of wind, sweeping down along the front of the SU, found another little playground as it swirled warmly around the stairs and railings in front of the doors, and also easily lifted the dark, chocolatey locks of hair belonging to one of Barden's newest freshmen, Stacie Conrad.

Brushing a stray strand of hair off her face which had just been blown across her eyes by a warm gust of late summer wind, Stacie looked down at the map displayed on the screen of her cellphone and tried to puzzle out how to get back to her dorm. She had only been on campus for about twelve hours and the young freshman was still getting used to navigating her way around. Of course, it didn't help her that she was a little early as classes didn't start for about another week. Hell, move-in day wasn't even technically until tomorrow, with Freshman Orientation on the following day to give the freshmen the weekend to get used to the campus before classes started up the following Wednesday. But Stacie had been anxious to acclimate herself to the campus when it was, hopefully, a little less crowded. That seemingly great idea was what had dropped Stacie into her current predicament, the one in which she was slightly lost and there weren't many people around to ask for directions.

Finally figuring out where she thought her dorm was on the nearly useless little map she'd found on Barden's website, Stacie was quickly able to plot what she hoped was the correct route there from the Student Union. Happy that something seemed to be going right for a change, Stacie looked up and found a landmark that more or less lined up with what she thought was on the map and grinned. Pushing the button on the side of her phone to shut the screen off she tucked it into her back pocket before making sure her clutch's zipper was closed. Holding the small purse by the loop attached to the zipper, Stacie bounced down the stairs not really paying attention to exactly how much certain parts of her bounced and turned to her left, strolling across the open and empty grass of the quad.

She was humming a soft tune she'd heard on the radio earlier that day while driving out from New York City with her stuff as she crossed from the grass onto one of the many sidewalks crisscrossing the campus. Her feet now planted on, she believed, the right path to get "home" Stacie heard a noise up ahead as a group of students exited one of the buildings. They were no doubt upper classmen, most likely ones who hadn't left campus during the summer term seeing as most of the students for the new school year wouldn't be arriving until Monday. She paused for a moment before realizing that the crowd, mostly guys though she was able to pick out a couple women in their midst, turned and headed off in the general direction she was heading. About thirty feet back from the group, Stacie was able to deduce from their conversation that they were off to a party at some frat house. Apparently it was an "end of summer" bash hosted by the Sigma Beta Theta house "before all the freshmen show up and ruin things."

Thinking that a party might be just what the doctor ordered to help get her acquainted with the social structure on campus, Stacie decides to head back to her dorm to put on something more party appropriate, and something that made her look less like a doe-eyed freshman. She followed after the crowd, listening to some of their chatter, for a few minutes before the group turned towards where she expected Greek Row, and the Sigma Beta Theta house, to be. Her own dorm, Baker Hall, wasn't too much farther and she paused just outside the nearly empty freshman dormitory to pull her phone out. Quickly unlocking it she pulled up the map and confirmed her suspicions that the group had in fact been heading towards Greek Row. Content that she knew where she was going, Stacie headed into the dorm and up to her room where she quickly changed into an outfit that would help hide the fact that she was probably too young to be anything but a freshman. It had always amazed Stacie how simply showing off a little cleavage could so easily distract people from how young she looked, but the busty brunette didn't mind the attention, and definitely didn't mind taking advantage of the distraction.

Checking her cleavage in the mirror one more time, and reaching down to make sure the goodies were as exposed as they could be without actually falling out, Stacie winked at herself in the mirror and said, to no one in particular, "Alright hunter, let's go join our first official college party."

Tossing her phone into her clutch now that she knew where she was heading, Stacie grabbed the small purse and headed out into the hall, her heels clicking on the floors as she made her way downstairs. As she got down to the first floor she saw a boy standing hear the entrance. He perked up as he saw her, standing slightly straighter and poking at his phone a couple times before stuffing it into his pocket and nodding towards her in a friendly manner.

"Evening." He said casually, adding a wave to the nod and words.

"Evening to you too." She said with an answering smile and nod of her head. As she approached the door, he stepped forward and opened one, gesturing for her to head on out.

"And here I thought I was the only one in Baker hall to have shown up early." The boy said, making small talk as he exited the building behind her and started walking alongside her.

"Well, you wouldn't have been wrong by far. With the majority of the dorm here being freshmen housing, it'll no doubt start filling up come tomorrow." Stacie said, trying not to sound like one of those freshmen, just in case. The guy seemed to be walking in the same direction she was, towards Greek Row, and she figured he was probably heading to that "end of summer" bash. Deciding to take a chance she added, "Are you off to the thing at SBT? I figured might as well head over for a party before the fresh meat shows up."

The bravado apparently worked as the guy chuckled and said, "Yeah, I was thinking about heading that way. They usually throw a fun bash, ya know? Lots of hotties there. Present company included."

Blushing slighting, and thankful that the night was dark enough to probably not let him notice, Stacie looked away for a moment, thinking about how to respond. That was probably a mistake, though, because as she looked away, she missed the subtle hand signal that the guy walking alongside her made off into the darkness. By the time she looked, however, the guy's attention was focused on her again as she opened her mouth and said, "You have a point, those Sigma guys have good taste. Were you at their last party?"

Stacie, her voice covering the sound of approaching footsteps, had only the briefest flash of insight that something was off when the guy next to her looked behind her and stepped away slightly just before she felt an arm wrap around her and something soft and wet covered her mouth. Instinctively she opened her mouth, drawing in a breath to scream, and realized her mistake too late as a chemical smell overpowered her. Still fighting weakly, she heard the guy beside her, whose voice had sounded so friendly just moments before, laugh harshly. A faint flash of light, from his cell phone she expected, lit his face briefly as he spoke, "Hey, it's me. Yeah, we got another one…"

The sound grew dim as she felt herself being dragged off the sidewalk. A second arm had joined the first, wrapping around her torso, a rough palm covering one of her breasts as the unknown assailant held the chemical soaked rag over her mouth. Her vision was nearly entirely black when she heard a muffled voice talking angrily. Struggling to make out the words, thinking they might be about her, she just managed to make out the voice saying, "… attacked by who? What… mean 'you don't know'… Damnit! We can't… Fine! We're coming… dump her in the bushes, we gotta get…"

Blackness buried Stacie in its numbing embrace as she felt her body hit the hard ground. Several footsteps echoing off into the distance as Stacie Conrad, one of Braden's newest freshmen, slipped into unconsciousness beneath a bunch of bushes.

* * *

 **A/N (Post Script):** As I said, if you guys want to see more of this, let me know. I know it's vague, it's meant to be that way. Please, read and review if you have a moment.


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Hey guys, sorry chapter 1 took a while to get out. Things keep getting in the way of me writing, like school and work. Damned real life interfering with my fantasy lives! Zap also expresses his apologies for this taking as long as it did, he had it in his hands for a day or two before doing the beta because he hadn't realized I was done with this chapter as it stood. So there's that...

I've always thought it would be interesting to see what happened if the universe of Pitch Perfect met the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so that's what this is. I'm not really sure exactly what I'm going to be doing with this fic yet. I mean, I have some vague ideas, but we'll see how they shape up in the end. I just hope everyone enjoys it. Please, if you like it, leave a review and let me know. So, for now, enjoy chapter 1!

* * *

Streaks of red arced through the air wildly as strings and bunches of red hair traced wild and semi-erratic patterns through the morning sunlight as the head of its owner moved up, down, and side to side in what could only be considered an improvised dance. Combined with the twisting shoulders, gyrating hips and occasional bouts of fist-pumping, an outside objective observer would be forced to conclude that yes, the redheaded girl was in fact dancing, albeit unlike what any normal person might consider to be dancing. Of course, anyone observing the dancer subjectively would be able to almost physically feel the energy, joy and sheer life that was coming from the redhead dancing around the small apartment.

For Chloe Beale, however, she was simply doing her own thing. Her music was kicking, blasting in through the ear buds tucked tightly into her ears to prevent the sound from waking up her sleeping roommate. When she had woken up this morning, about an hour previously, the redhead had decided that she should do a little bit of cleaning. Today was move-in day at Barden University, which was of little consequence to Chloe because, and this point being far more important, it was also the day of the Activities Fair.

Now that wouldn't really mean much to most people, but for Chloe, it was the first step along the path of redemption. Today was that day that she and her best friend, roommate, and co-captain would begin to rebuild the tradition of the Barden Bellas. The Barden Bellas, an all-female a capella group from Barden University, had been, just the previous year, the first all-female a capella group to ever reach the pinnacle of collegiate a capella and go to the ICCAs, the International Championship of Collegiate A Capella. Where they had been promptly humiliated as her aforementioned best friend, roommate, and co-captain had, well, hadn't given her best performance, to put it gently. But, as Chloe shook and danced around the room, she was trying not to think about that.

Having woken up thrilled to be facing the first day of their rebound, Chloe knew exactly how the day would play out. After their relatively normal morning routines, Aubrey, the aforementioned best friend et all, and herself would get dressed and head down to the quad to set up their booth. The morning and afternoon would be filled with much flier'ing, talking, and recruiting. After which they would find themselves with eight to ten new sisters with smoking hot, bikini ready bodies who could harmonize and had perfect pitch, or near enough at any rate. And then, success and a triumphant return to the ICCAs and the national first as an all-female group took home the trophy.

Chloe had envisioned all of it as she lay in her bed less than an hour ago, a bright and beaming smile slowly growing on her face. As she pictured herself alongside Aubrey holding aloft the prized trophy, Chloe realized something. The apartment was a mess. Over the last couple of days herself and Aubrey had been exceedingly busy getting all the supplies they'd need for the Activities Fair ready, and neither had really done much in the way of cleaning. Well, as busy as today was no doubt going to be, she expected that neither Aubrey nor herself would want to do anything when they got home aside from falling onto the couch to drink some wine and watch some celebratory guilty pleasure shows on Netflix. And, as the redheaded senior lay on her bed, she realized a huge problem with that. The living room was covered in the detritus of their recent activities and was in no fit state to be lounged about it.

Which was how the morning sunlight had found its way to Chloe's pink, ankle high sock covered feet. From there it streamed upwards over the sleek, well-toned muscles of her calves and thighs to caress the gyrating hips and wiggling ass, barely contained in the tiny Hello Kitty shorts that the redhead had worn to bed. Ever upwards the light ran, over the slightly rumpled tank-top the redhead also slept in until it had found the wildly twirling strands of Chloe's bright red hair.

Pausing a moment in her dancing the redhead couldn't help but notice what time it was, nearly eight in the morning, and realized that she had actually managed to get the living room into a more or less presentable state. No doubt Aubrey would be able to find more cleaning up to do, but it was good enough for Chloe's standards and the redhead realized that it was almost breakfast time at any rate. Taking the last few handfuls of stuff and dumping them in the large trash bag she had set nearby, Chloe frowned slightly when it dawned on her that her blond roommate had yet to emerge to investigate the ruckus that Chloe had no doubt been making as she moved about the apartment.

While the sound from her headphones was most likely muffled, Chloe knew that her erratic dancing and, most likely, occasional bursts of singing had no doubt told Aubrey that she was awake, neither had rousted the blond from her room. Now if it had been during the school year Chloe might have chalked that up to the blond being engrossed in homework or a Bellas related task, but seeing as classes didn't start until the following week the redhead was at a loss as to what might have been keeping Aubrey in bed so late.

Deciding that there was no better way to figure it out than to go in and ask, Chloe popped out her ear buds and let them dangle around her neck piping their upbeat, poppy music into the air around her as she headed right on into Aubrey's room. And stopped about three feet into the room in dismay. The normally pristine room was in a bit of a shambles and if Chloe hadn't had been able to make out the slumbering form of her best friend laying tangled in the blankets she might have feared a kidnapping of some sort. Of course, that was a little silly, Chloe told herself as she looked around at the various pieces of darkish clothing strewn around the room because she could clearly see a lump on the bed indicating someone was in there.

However the more she looked back and forth between the rumpled, messy sheets of the bed pulled up over the top of the pillows and the sprawl of clothes strewn everywhere on the floor as though thrown off in the heat of passion realization begin to break through the euphoric fog that the music and dancing had filled Chloe's brain with for the last three quarters of an hour. Spinning around quickly, Chloe checked the door handle that she had just flung open to see if her best friend's Bellas scarf was tied on it, their own little code that the pair had used since they were freshmen bunking together. Seeing the door handle was scarf free didn't necessarily guarantee that she wasn't about to find some unknown, naked stranger in her best friend's bed, however, as Aubrey had found out much to her displeasure on more than one occasion after Chloe had forgotten their little code system. Tiptoeing forward a couple steps, she cautiously called out, "Bree? You awake Bree? More importantly, are you alone or should I come back in a few minutes?"

When no response presented itself, Chloe repeated the question in a slightly louder voice. Still nothing. Throwing caution to the wind the redhead bent down and grabbed what looked to be a combat boot, or something along those lines, and gently tossed it onto the bed. The reaction was instantaneous, and about what Chloe had expected. Blond hair and pale skin came suddenly into view as Aubrey abruptly sat up in bed and Chloe almost instinctively turned around to give her friend some privacy, just in case.

"Jesus, Chloe! What the aca-hell?!" The blond girl shrieked as the boot fell to the floor with a loud thud.

"Morning, sleepyhead!" Chloe said, still facing away from the blond. As she stood, idly looking over her roommates walls, Chloe tried to listen carefully for any indication of another person in the room.

"Seriously, Chlo? Did you just throw a shoe at me? Who throws a shoe?" Aubrey said huffily, falling back into bed. As no sounds of a second person came forth, Chloe turned cautiously and looked at her friend, sprawled out on the bed half-covered by her blankets. The pushed down blanket exposed vast swaths of smooth, creamy skin covered only by the small sports bra that Aubrey had worn to bed. Of course, after having lived with each other for basically three years, Aubrey's nearly bare torso wasn't anything new, so Chloe just giggled at the blond's question and walked over to flop down on the bed.

"I did, cuz, well, I didn't know if you'd… I mean, all the clothes on the floor, the bed covers pulled all the way up. You know, maybe you'd been in too much of a hurry…" Chloe said, gesturing vaguely over her head at the state of the bedroom. Which earned a chuckle from the blond, and if Chloe knew her friend, an eye roll as well.

"In all the years we've been living together, Chlo, have I ever forgotten the code?" Aubrey asked, nudging the redhead with her right foot to get her to move a little and free the left one which Chloe had laid on.

"Umm, well, there was that one time, with that cute blond from your chemistry class…" Chloe started, moving off Aubrey's foot and shifting so that her feet were at the top the bed and her head at the bottom.

"Uh, Chloe, that was you, sophomore year, just after spring break, remember?" Aubrey answered, rolling her eyes at the ridiculousness of her roommate, and the redhead's terrible memory, before reaching out to tickle one of the Chloe's feet to get the redhead to move them off her pillow.

"Oh yeah… What was their name? Whatever, I don't remember and it doesn't matter. You gotta get up and we need to shower. I don't think I need to remind you what today is…" The redhead said, at first fumbling the for the name of that random hookup after an a capella party during their sophomore year. As with most things, though, the effervescent redhead quickly moved on and brought up the reason for her barging in. And it was like a lightning bolt hitting the blond.

The blond girl once again jerked upright in bed, but this time she didn't stop at a sitting position as she exclaimed, "Shit! The Activities Fair! Oh my god, we have so much to do to get ready, and I have to shower, and prep the fliers, and get the…"

Chloe, having expected the reaction, or at least something similar, was already sitting up on the bed and holding up her hands. When Aubrey paused to take a breath, Chloe jumped right in and started calming the blond down. Speaking quickly she said, "Bree, chill out! I got this. I already have the fliers prepped, and the banners, and all of it. It's waiting on the table. All we need to do is get showered, dressed and then go find eight to ten super hot girls with bikini ready bodies who can harmonize and have perfect pitch. That is what you said you wanted, right?"

"Wait, you… You already got things ready? Why didn't you wake me up, Chloe? I could have…" The blond sputtered to a stop, realizing that Chloe had actually woken her up. She'd just been considerate enough to let her sleep in a little bit longer. Which considering the night she'd had, was a far greater gift than Chloe could have known. Turning to face the redhead, she noticed Chloe looking at her curiously, but sighed and said, "I guess you did get me up. And yes, that's what we want… What are you looking at, Chloe?"

The redhead, who had been staring at her friend since Aubrey had gotten out of bed, walked over and pointed towards her hip. Aubrey turned towards the mirror and winced as she saw the large bruise covering her hip, angry shades of purple, black and blue spreading down past the boyshorts she'd worn to bed to cover the top of her thigh. From behind her, Chloe spoke up, "What's that, Bree? Jesus, that looks like it hurts like hell. What the hell happened to you?"

"Uhh…" Aubrey said, stalling for time as she tried to think of an excuse that the redhead would buy. Trying to keep her answer vague she gestured offhandedly in the direction of the school's gym as she said, "I, uh, remember I told you about it? It was a day or two ago at the gym… I had that little accident and fell… Said I hit my hip hard."

While Aubrey had grown up in a very strict military house, religion had never been a big deal for her like it had for her parents. Today, however, or more specifically right that second, she was praying to any deity that would listen that Chloe's notoriously leaky memory would help smooth the situation over. With a frown of deep thinking creasing her face and furrowing her brow, Chloe nodded vaguely as she spoke slowly, "Uh… I guess. I mean, yeah. Of course I remember, duh. You gotta be more careful, Bree, cuz that looks painful. Also, make sure you pick a longer dress, cuz we don't wanna scare any potential Bellas off if they see that and think they'll get the same."

Barely managing to hold back her sigh of relief that Chloe had bought her lie, the blond walked over and grabbed her towel, making sure that it hung down and covered that hip. Rolling her eyes at the redhead who was now bouncing back and had literally just bounced up off the bed, Aubrey nodded towards the shower and said, "You want the first one, or do you mind if…?"

"Nope, go right ahead. I wanna finish tidying the living room anyway. I've been cleaning!" Chloe beamed brightly, back to her previous good mood as she tucked one of her ear buds back into place.

"Oh crap. I'm going to have to go back over it all again later, aren't I?" Aubrey said, teasing her best friend as she always did about Chloe's "cleaning" which usually just involved throwing things out of sight, generally the closet, where they'd fall onto Aubrey whenever she went for a jacket.

"Shut up! I actually cleaned this time, I promise." Chloe said, sticking her tongue out at Aubrey as she flounced past the blond. Tucking the other ear bud in, she went back to wiggling and dancing as she moved down the hall to resume her "cleaning".

Leaning back against the doorframe, Aubrey let loose the huge sigh she'd been holding back since dodging the bullet with Chloe. Knowing she'd have to be more careful in the future, the blond just shook her head and left the room, turning towards the shower where she could wash off the remnants of her previous night's activities. As she turned on the water and started to get the temperature just right, she turned her thoughts ahead and towards the challenges of the day, namely finding their replacement Bellas.

* * *

A cacophony of noise assailed Beca's senses as she stepped out of the cab at Barden University. And while she had previously just been inflicting another sort of cacophony of noise upon herself throughout the cab ride, this one provided for her via the headphones that now hung around her neck, that noise was welcome. This noise was… Well, while not unwelcome it was surprising, though not completely unexpected.

Today was move-in day. So naturally there were going to be hundreds of freshmen and their families trying to get situated at the school. That in turn would lead one to expect a roaring swell of sound nearly anywhere on campus one could find. And out in the main drive near the freshmen dorms was the place one might expect the most sound. So the fact that the street was awash with the echoing cries of students and parents, all trying to communicate through the hoopla, wasn't even slightly surprising. It was, at least to Beca, almost painful however.

Hearing, despite the noise surrounding her, the trunk unlatching, the brunette turned quickly to focus on the back of the cab. As she started towards it she felt the cabbie moving away, but still heard someone back there. By the sound of it, and other impressions she got, she knew that he was reaching into the trunk to help her unload. Most likely, if she had to guess, a student from the school who had volunteered to help new freshmen make the trip from where they unloaded up to their dorm rooms. Stepping quickly to the back of the vehicle Beca stopped the man, she knew he was a man by the cheap cologne she could smell on him, and reached in to grab the case right on top.

She had to. It held her most prized possessions.

"I got it. Thanks." She said, grabbing the bag before the man could get his mitts on it. As she stepped to the street side of the cab she paused, listening to the sounds around her and just taking everything in. In the background she could hear a voice over a PA announcing the location of freshmen check-in, she heard the sounds of countless students greeting friends after a long summer apart, and she heard the sound of a car approaching, a song playing over its radio. "Carry On Wayward Son" if she had to guess, though the fact that vehicle was still some distance off, and the sheer amount of noise in the immediate area, made it an actual guess instead of a certainty. A more immediate noise brought her attention to a woman, based on the cheap knock-off of a Chanel perfume wafting off the girl, who had just stepped up to her.

"Hi there. Welcome to Barden University. What dorm?" The girl's voice asked, chipper and annoyingly perky despite the fact that she'd no doubt said the very same words an untold number of times already today.

"Uh, Baker Hall, I think." The brunette said, pretending to fumble at the side of her laptop case for a moment before putting her hand on her collapsible long cane, which was folded up and tucked into a pouch on the side of her case. As she unfolded the cane she could practically feel the girl in front of her hesitate as she took in the cane, the red-tinted glasses she was wearing, and the fact that Beca only looked vaguely in her direction and put them all together.

"Oh. You're blind." The girl said, uselessly. When Beca only smirked, the girl went on to say, "I can get someone to come…"

She didn't get to finish her statement before Beca cut her off, "Don't worry about it. I can manage. Baker Hall is off which way again?"

The music, which had been steadily getting louder in the background of Beca's hearing, finally peaked as the car paused almost right beside, its exhaust swirling hot and humid around her legs as the noxious smell assaulted her nose. At the same time, an annoying sound overrode the pleasant strains of what was most definitely Kansas' "Carry on Wayward Son". The sound was that of the boy, most likely another freshman considering his parents were driving him, based on their quiet conversation nearly drowned out by the music.

The boy, having obviously seen her through the window, decided to serenade her with a bit of the chorus of the song, which caused her to roll her eyes behind her glasses and then almost chuckled as she heard an "oomph" from him as the car again started off, slamming him into his seat.

Turning her full attention back to the girl, Beca had heard enough, and knew enough from her father and other sources, where to find Baker Hall, as long as she started off in the right direction. The guide finished her spiel and reached out to hand Beca a map, as though running on autopilot, as she said, "Here's your campus map. And your official BU rape whistle. Don't blow it unless it's actually happening."

Raising her left hand, as her right held the cane firmly, the brunette freshman took the map, and the whistle, with another eye roll. Hearing the trunk slam closed she turned towards the guy who seemed to be in charge of pushing the cart with the rest of her stuff and said, "Baker Hall, room 210. I'll meet you there."

The cart guy nodded, not realizing she was blind, and started moving off without her. Looking back towards the greeter girl, who Beca could tell still had her attention focused on her, caused the brunette to lift the whistle and bite down on it. Which earned a quiet "hmmmph" from the girl, who turned to help another car which had just pulled up.

Smirking to herself, Beca could hear the voice of the guy who had her cart grumbling about all the people as he struggled to make his way through the crowds with the loaded down cart. That was the main reason she had told him to go on without her. She knew that she'd no doubt be able to make her way to Baker Hall before him, even with having to swing her cane back and forth. And she turned out to be right. The trip across the campus was rather uneventful, as she'd hoped. Most people made way for her as her cane tapped out a rhythm along the paved sidewalks that she knew should carry her to Baker Hall. As she went the nearly overwhelming noise from the street lessened a bit to a muted droning in the background, only to be replaced by the more immediate sounds of a campus full of life.

She could hear what she assumed would be frat boys catcalling to girls as they strolled past, apparently judging them if the numbers they were shouting out were any indication. She heard excited chattering of new students and parents as they explored the grounds. She also heard, at one point, what sounded like the crashing of a cart off the path, which apparently spilled a vast pile of stuffed animals onto the ground.

Beca just didn't understand why some people felt the need to bring that sort of nonsense to college with them. Moving past carefully, Beca felt the shift in air currents against her skin as cooler air seemed to be blowing from her right. Based on the mental map of the campus that Beca had memorized, this was most likely Baker Hall. A metallic tang in the air which had been growing stronger to Beca suddenly spiked which told her that there was a sign-plate on the wall. And by brushing her fingers over it she felt the words spelling out a confirmation of her guess. Smiling to herself, she turned and passed through the doorway and found her way easily upstairs to the second floor.

That was where she encountered a couple of things in rapid succession. The first came as she was walking up the steps to the second floor. And it was that she wasn't sure how exactly she wanted to go about finding her room without tipping her hand. The most obvious answer was to walk down the hall, running her fingers along the plates on the doors or the walls. This was most likely going to be complicated by how crowded the building was sure to be. As she was coming up onto the second floor landing the noise coming from the hall beyond the closed door told her that her suspicions were correct, but she decided to just fumble her way through with that plan. However a sudden burst of noise from the stairs leading up to the third floor drew her attention as she heard someone, a boy she thought, barreling down the stairs right towards her, calling up to the third floor as he descended.

"I think I left it in the car, mom. I'll dash down and get it. It won't take-Shit!" The boy's voice said, his words turning to an expletive as he collided with Beca on the landing.

The short brunette had instinctively tried to pull away, but didn't want to make things too obvious, and so she allowed the young boy to glance off her shoulder as she fell against the door to the second floor. Rubbing her arm as she straightened, Beca said, "Ow… Are you alright?"

"Jesus, dude, watch where you're… Oh. Oh shit. I'm like… Crap." The boy, Beca knew he was alright as she'd heard him thud against the wall of the landing, started to tell her off, then must have noticed the cane and glasses and immediately his tone turned apologetic. Stepping towards her, he reached out and arm to steady her as he said, "Crap. I'm sorry. I didn't see you, it was my fault. I'm fine, but are you ok?"

"Just a bump, no worries." Beca said, pressing a hand to her laptop bag to make sure she couldn't feel anything wrong with the equipment inside.

"Whew, thank god. I'd have felt terrible running over anyone in the stairs but especially someone as… Wait a sec. I know you." The boy said, and Beca could tell he was making grand gestures around before realization dawned on him. Beca had known who it was the instant she'd heard his voice. It was the singing kid from when she had been getting out of her cab.

"Are you sure? Cuz I don't think you do…" Beca said, trying to play dumb. She started groping for the door handle to move into the hall way.

"No, I do know you. I saw you, like 20 minutes ago out on the street. I sang to you. I'm Jesse. Jesse Swanson." Jesse said, surprise and delight now taking over in his tone of voice. Beca knew that he'd reached out a hand for her to shake. It was so instinctive for most people to do that that she almost shook her head at the notion of expecting a blind person to be able to reach out and take your hand. But she managed to avoid it.

"Beca Mitchell." She said, putting her own hand out somewhere near where she knew his was, but waiting for him to take hold. After the briefest of pauses as Jesse no doubt realized he had been and idiot with the gesture, Beca felt him take hold of her hand and shake it. In fact, when he spoke, Beca could hear a bit of embarrassment in his tone as he pointedly didn't mention it and changed the subject.

"So… What room are you in?" Jesse said, seemingly content to continue their conversation. She heard him lean against the wall and could tell that he was eyeing her up and down, and liking what he was seeing. Sighing deeply she knew that she'd have to brush him off, and she figured she might as well get it over now rather than leading him on.

"210. I think it's somewhere down this hall here. And before you ask, no we can't go get coffee sometime." Beca said, probably more harshly than she needed, but she wanted to make sure he got the point.

"Ouch, shot down before I can even try." Jesse said, affecting a wince which Beca could hear by his tone of voice alone. Rolling her eyes she finally managed to get the door open just as a voice from upstairs called down.

"Jesse, what are you still doing down there. I thought you were getting your laptop bag from the car? And who's this lovely lady?" A female voice, no doubt Jesse's mother, sounded from the top of the stairs as Beca heard her footsteps coming down towards them.

"Oh yeah. I, uh, kinda ran into Beca here. She's blind and so, well, didn't see me coming. Literally." Jesse said, rather sheepishly as he ran his hand through his hair.

"Oh heavens me. You poor dear. Are you all by yourself?" Jesse's mom was now coming onto their landing and Beca tried to escape into the hall, but was caught the kindness behind the woman's words and paused to answer.

"Uh yeah. Well, I mean, my dad teaches here, but he's probably busy. So I'm trying to find my room and get settled, you know?" Beca said, gesturing vaguely down the hall towards her room.

"Jesse Bartholomew Swanson, did we never teach you a lick of manners? You get off your lazy behind and help this girl find her room right now, or so help me… I'll get your laptop and take it to your room." Jesse's mom, in an almost comically Southern manner, rounded on her son and scolded him fiercely. Beca knew that he was blushing at the upbraiding, and no doubt thanking himself that Beca was blind and unable to see it… If only he knew.

"Yes mom. I was about to do that before you… Anyway, Beca, how about I help you find your room? It's the least I can do after nearly running you over. And I won't take no for an answer." Jesse said, defensive at first, then as though trying to save face in a more authoritative manner as he turned towards Beca. Sighing Beca knew that on the one hand she was kind of stuck with the boy for at least a little while longer. But on the other hand, at least she had come up with an easy way to "tell where her room was".

The walk down the hall turned out to not be as bad as Beca had initially feared, which was a nice change. After asking if she wanted him to take her arm, which she accepted Jesse led them down the hallway. His conversation while they walked was amiable enough after apologizing again for nearly running her over. He even pointed out when they walked past a doorway, keeping a running count "so she would remember for the next time if he wasn't around."

When they finally got to the room Beca produced the key and opened the door. She heard Jesse step in after her and also heard the low whistle he gave in response to what he saw. Her own impression of the room was that her dad seemed to have finally done something right.

"Damn, Becs. How'd you score a single?" Jesse asked, looking around at the large single-occupant dorm room. After helping Beca to the desk, he looked around a bit, poking his head into the empty closet and generally just kind of admiring the space as he waited for the brunette's answer.

It didn't come, however, as there was a soft knock on the door which announced the arrival of the guy from below with her stuff. Jesse, being the nice guy that Beca had a feeling that he was, helped the upperclassman to unload her boxes and told Beca where they were putting them. Once the guy had taken off, leaving Jesse in the room with her, Beca moved to the boxes and found the one she'd labeled that held her mixing equipment and started to unpack it all, which earned another whistle from the freshman boy.

"Wow! That's some fancy looking gear. You've kinda got it made, haven't you Becs? Single dorm, all this fancy music gear. Are you, like, some sort of celebrity or something?"

"Ha. No." Beca answered as she moved the equipment from the boxes to the desk and felt along the wall for the power outlet she knew was there. As she started to plug things in and set it up in her familiar pattern, she went on, "My dad teaches here, he got me the room. And I'm just a nobody from Hell's Kitchen trying to get the most out of my college professor father."

"Wow, your dad teaches here? That's cool. And that's awesome that you're from Hell's Kitchen, so am I! We're, like, basically neighbors or something…" Jesse said, and Beca could tell that he was getting way, way too excited about the situation and realized that she needed to remedy that.

"Yeah… So, before you get–" Beca started to say before Jesse interrupted her and she heard the rustle of a piece of paper.

"Hey, I think there's a letter here for you. I mean, it's got all those bumps on it, braille I think… And it's on the college letterhead." Jesse said, excitedly looking down over the bumps printed across the page. Beca, who had heard the page rustle when they'd opened the door had been hoping Jesse wouldn't notice it, but since he had she edged her way towards the desk and felt around for a second before putting her hand on the page.

"Yeah, definitely braille. Let me see…" Beca said quietly as she placed both hands on the tiny bumps that made up the written language of the blind. Braille was a fascinating concept and, once she'd mastered the reading of it after the accident which had taken her sight, she found that she could speed through a page of braille as fast if not faster than she had previously read a page with her eyes. Her fingers slid rapidly over the bumps as she worked her way down the page before nodding.

"Well, what does it say?" Jesse asked, his obvious curiosity at the idea of writing for blind people bubbling through in his tone.

"It's an official letter of welcome from the school. It's basically thanking me for choosing Barden for my undergraduate studies, as if I had a choice, and wants me to come by the administration offices as soon as I'm settled in." Beca said, muttering the bit about it not being her choice, but otherwise explaining the gist of the letter. It had said a few other things, mainly mentioning her condition, but she didn't really like drawing more attention to that than the white cane and glasses usually got.

"Well, that's awfully nice of them. I mean, I guess I got kinda the same thing in my welcome packet, but I suppose they sent you one of those too?" Jesse asked, which earned a nod from her. Beca heard him shrug his shoulders before he went on, "Well, it's still kinda cool. I'll go with you, if you want… I mean, no sense getting lost on the campus on the first day, right?"

Beca wasn't quite sure how to refuse the offer, so she simply shrugged and said a quiet thanks. Leaving the note on the desk Jesse stepped out into the hall and waited while Beca closed and locked the door before offering her his arm. And then, after realizing she couldn't see the gesture, saying as much and taking her hand to rest on it. They walked back to the stairwell where he explained that they were going to head upstairs to his room briefly so he could tell his parents what was up, and tell 'em they could leave if they wanted.

A brief round of official introductions took place when they got to his room. Jesse's parents and new roommate were all delighted to meet her, though Beca could hear the disappointment from his roommate, Benji, when he learned that she couldn't see his "super awesome, close-up magic" but he played it off well enough that no one else noticed. Benji even offered to go with her and Jesse, saying he had kind of already gotten a grasp of the campus and could get them to the admin offices quickly enough.

And that was how she found herself walking beside the two boys, who were bickering over who would win in a fight between Thor and the Hulk, towards the administration office of the campus. She tried to tune out Jesse saying that Thor only had to lay his hammer on the Hulk's chest and Hulk couldn't move. Or Benji saying that the Hulk's skin made him basically indestructible. She was thankful when they were, by her estimation, finally nearing the administration buildings because hopefully it would mean that Jesse would stop his explanation of how Thor could just drag the Hulk into space and leave him there.

"I guess there is some validity to the fact that the Hulk, while he could survive in space, wouldn't be able to maneuver the same way that Thor could…" Benji says, conceding that Jesse had a point.

"'In the same way'? I think you meant not at all. Regardless, we're at our destination." Jesse said, capping off what he felt was the winning point in the argument. Beca, however, knew it wouldn't end here. She could already tell that Benji was readying a comeback to try and refute the point, so she quickly cut in.

"Oh good, you guys don't need to keep tailing me, I promise I'll be ok." Beca had already turned, her stick tapping along the ground, but sadly it wasn't to be. She could feel that Jesse and Benji shared a look with each other, and both seemed to agree that she did need them, as both boys hurried to catch up to her.

"Oh nonsense. No one said you _needed_ us. We're just happy to walk with you." Jesse said, and if her interactions with him to this point were any clue, he'd said it with a smile.

Beca just shook her head and didn't respond as she felt the door in front of her and reached out to open it before Jesse or Benji could. Smiling herself as if to say 'I get along just fine without help' she nodded, indicating that the boys go in first. As they all stepped inside Beca could hear a soft chuckle from Benji, as though the point wasn't lost on him.

"Looks like Administration is down on the right here, across the hall from the security office on the left. To the right we go!" Jesse said, his voice an over exaggerated hero's tone, which did earn a chuckle from Beca who started walking after the two boys. She could tell that the hall wasn't that large, there was only a bit of sound echoing down it, but from what she could hear, it sounded as though someone else was in the building. Unless she was much mistaken there was a young woman in the security office impatiently tapping her foot.

"Hello, welcome to the administration offices. How can we help you this morning?" Beca heard a chipper voice call from just inside the admin office. Jesse, ever the eager one, had already walked in by the sounds of it. Hurrying to catch up Beca heard her fellow freshman speaking.

"Good morning. We're actually here with our friend, she got a letter telling her to come over as soon as she arrived." Jesse said, and Beca knew he had gestured towards her as she walked in.

"Oh, well that's great. Welcome to Barden. Name please?" The receptionist asked.

"Beca Mitchell." Beca replied, stepping up to the counter, though she wasn't really paying much attention to the receptionist. The voices across the hall had gotten a little heated and Beca was trying to listen in over there.

"Miss, please take a seat and someone will be out to see you soon." A bored voice was saying in the security office.

"I don't want to take a seat, damnit. I've been sitting for half an hour now, hell longer than that. I want to file a damned complaint!" The woman's voice said, anger surging through every word.

"Excellent… Ok, Rebecca Mitchell… Hmmm, Rebecca Mitchell…" The security guard's words were lost as the reception spoke up, her fingers whacking keys as she typed, no doubt looking Beca up in the school registry to see why she'd been told to come down.

"No, no. Not Rebecca. Why does everyone always assume that. Just Beca, Beca Mitchell." Beca huffed in frustration before clarifying for the girl. It always irritated her when people assumed her name was Rebecca. She had a cousin named Rebecca and the girl was an absolute diva. Beca tried to avoid any association with her. Thankfully she lived on the other side of the country, so it wasn't that hard.

"Oh, there it is, perfect. I see the note right here from Dr. Mitchell. I'll go get the special welcome packet we prepared for you. Excuse me." She almost missed the receptionist's response, however as she focused again on the conversation from across the hall as a new voice had joined the first.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting, Ms. Conrad, it's been a busy morning. You know, start of the new school year and all. So, what seems to be the problem." The voice was deep and authoritative, though Beca could tell that the man was bored with the situation already and just wanted it over.

"Yeah, well it should be a lot busier. As I told that useless clerk there, I want to file a complaint. I was on my way across campus last night when I was attacked. I want the men responsible found and arrested!" The woman, Ms. Conrad, said. The word attacked piqued Beca's interest and she couldn't help taking a few steps closer.

"Hmmm, really? You were attacked… On campus, you say?" The officer said, obvious skepticism evident to Beca in his tone.

"Yes on campus. I was on my way to the party at Sigma Beta Theta last night and…" Anything else Stacie had intended to say was halted as the officer cut her off abruptly.

"You say you were heading to the SBT party last night and you were attacked? Are you sure that's what happened, Ms. Conrad? Are you sure you didn't just maybe have a little too much to drink, got in over your head, and now you're trying to cover it up? You're a freshman according to our records here, and shouldn't be drinking at all. In fact, I think I can smell the alcohol on your breath still, don't you Peters?" The officer said, and even without being in the same room, Beca knew he was lying. She could practically hear his heart start hammering in his chest at the mention of the fraternity.

"Here it is. Sorry it took me so long to find it, Ms. Mitchell." The receptionist's voice, and the sound of a thick envelope slapping onto the counter reminded Beca that she wasn't supposed to be listening to conversations in the security office. However it didn't stop her from hearing the other security officer's reply, backing up his felling, and Stacie's indignant reply asking how dare they accuse her of that. Beca whole-heartedly agreed with her, but the guard's just seemed to laugh it off.

"Ms. Mitchell? Here's your packet. Also there's a note here saying that your father wants to see you, though why he left a note…" The receptionist's voice trails off at the end as Beca hurriedly brought her attention back to the matter at hand and stepped forward to take the envelope.

"Uh, thanks for this. And I'll, uh, text him to let him know I'm here." Beca said, hearing the girl hurrying from the security office, not quite restraining the sobs from what must have been a horrible ordeal coupled with that response. Turning quickly she said to Jesse, "Well, that's it, let's get going. Thanks again."

Without waiting to hear the receptionist's response, or hear Jesse and Benji say goodbye, Beca made her way quickly outside. Standing just in front of the building she paused, listening intently trying to find where Ms. Conrad had gone. She heard Jesse and Benji come out behind her.

"Wow, that was an abrupt ending. Everything ok?" Jesse asked, his curiosity evident in his tone. Beca just shook her head, not really paying attention to the boy as she'd just heard the girl's sobs. It sounded like she'd just gone around the side of the building. Heading off in that direction casually Beca started to answer Jesse.

"Huh? Oh, well, I just… I don't really want the special treatment, I guess is what it is. I told my dad that when I applied. But he insisted. 'You are a Mitchell' he'd said…" Beca answered, surprising herself with her own honesty. By the time she'd finished, she knew they had reached the side of the building and was hoping that one of the two boys would spot the girl and do something. It would save any awkwardness that might come up if she knew the girl was there before the people who could see did. Thankfully Benji seemed to notice something.

"I guess I can… Hey, is that… Is that a girl over there crying?" He asked, and Beca said a silent prayer in her head as she heard Jesse and him turn towards the crying girl.

"Oh god. I hope everything's ok…" Jesse said, taking a few tentative steps towards the spot where the crying girl stood. Before he got too close, though, he called out, "Uhhh, hello? Are uh, are you ok?"

Beca heard the sound of crying stop as the girl realized she had an audience. As Beca had expected, the girl took a few steps back away from the boys. Stepping forward she said, as reassuringly as she could muster, "Hey there. Are you alright? Benji here said you were crying…"

The sight of a girl, and a blind girl at that, obviously wasn't what the frightened girl had expected and she paused in her retreat. Beca could hear her sniffle once before she answered, "Ummm, no. I'm not really ok. But… I'll be fine."

"Mmm, I don't think so." Beca said, taking another few steps closer to the other girl and putting on what she'd been told was her winningest smile. Leaning against the building casually the short brunette added, "I'd get crying back at your dorm, saying goodbye to your old life and stuff. But we aren't near any dorms now. And I make it a point to never let pretty girls cry in my presence."

The brunette had had her suspicions, based on the events that seemed to have taken place the previous night, but the choking sounds from Jesse and Benji only confirmed that her guess was spot on. And besides, it earned a chuckle from the girl. Sniffing again, she heard the other girl step forward and raise her hand as she said, "Ok then, we can play that game. I'm Stacie, Stacie Conrad."

"Beca Mitchell." Beca responded, sticking her own hand out in the vague area in which Stacie's hand was. Stacie realized her mistake at once, however, and reached to take hold of Beca's hand and shake it. The short brunette couldn't help but notice how soft the other girl's hands were as Stacie shook her hand.

"Mmmm, pleased to meet you, Beca." Stacie said, her attention all focused on the shorter girl.

"Uh, hi. I'm Jesse. Jesse Swanson. And this is Benji, he's my roommate." Jesse said, interrupting the moment between the two girls. Beca, her hand still clasped in Stacie's, felt the other girl jump a little at Jesse's words.

"Say, instead of crying out beside the admin building, why don't we head back to my room, Stacie? You can tell me what's up…" Beca offered, turning and gesturing off towards where her dorm was.

"Us. Benji and I don't like to see pretty girls cry either." Jesse said, forcing Beca to roll her eyes as he tried just a little too hard.

"Ummm, yeah. I guess that works. Lead the way." Stacie said, uncertainty lacing her voice. As they walked across campus back towards Baker Hall, Beca noticed that the brunette didn't let go of her hand. Beca didn't mind that much. She had a feeling that things with Stacie Conrad were just starting.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N:** Wow, this took a lot longer than I expected to get out. I apologize to everyone who's been waiting for it. I've had some serious writers block of late, which is why ALL of the things I'm working on have been rather slower than I would have hoped. This includes some things that Zap's been doing which he wants me to go over, and so I'd also like to apologize to him even though I have many times already. Many thanks, homey, for the beta work on this, it's great appreciated. For people waiting for new Timbre, Nocturnal, or anything else, well, all I can say is that I'm working on it, I promise! Please, though, take the time to leave a review if you like what you've read here, it keeps me wanting to write. Hell, if you didn't like it, leave a review and tell me why. Maybe we can have a chat about it. Now that that's out of the way, I hope you guys enjoy Chapter 2 of The Devil of Barden!

* * *

 **The Devil of Barden - Chapter 2**

Beca and Stacie walked back to Baker Hall slowly, the taller girl's crying seemingly forgotten as they walked. Once they started walking Beca shifted her grip from Stacie's hand to just below her elbow, making it seem as though Stacie was guiding her around that way. She wasn't sure why, but instead of walking right alongside the two girls Benji and Jesse had simply trailed after the two. Both were pretty quiet, but Beca could hear them whispering easily enough. Beca wasn't sure what prompted them to do it, but she had felt Stacie immediately relax a little bit as soon as the two guys dropped back and it was apparent they weren't going to try and walk alongside her. That alone told Beca all she needed to know about the veracity of Stacie's report to the security office.

"Ummm… How did Beca know that Stacie is pretty?" Beca heard Benji ask after they'd been walking for a minute, long enough for the boys to have let about ten or fifteen feet separate them from Stacie and herself, Beca estimated.

"Benji, that girl isn't just pretty. She's smoking hot. And I have no idea… I'm sure it was just a line, or a lucky guess…" Jesse replied, which caused Beca to smile. Naturally that had drawn Stacie's attention, seeing as the taller girl had been glancing repeatedly casting fleeting, sidelong glances towards Beca.

"What's the smile for?" Stacie asked, a coquettish tone to her voice. Beca, her hand holding lightly onto the bare skin above Stacie's elbow, simply turned the smile towards the taller girl and widened it before answering.

"Am I not allowed to smile on what is, I've been told, a beautiful day while I stroll along beside a beautiful girl?" The blind girl asked, her hand squeezing Stacie's elbow lightly. She could tell that Stacie had blushed at the compliment, she could almost feel the flush from the other girl, and gave herself a mental high-five. Whatever else may happen, at least she was able to take Stacie's mind off what had seemingly happened the night before.

"If you don't stop that I'm just going to think that you call all the girls you meet beautiful. How could you even know?" Stacie asked, side stepping around a freshmen whose cart had fallen over and making sure Beca followed with her. Of course, Beca hadn't needed Stacie's guiding to know, she'd heard the cart tip, but it wouldn't do to let her know that.

"I had a good feeling about it. And Jesse and Benji's reactions only proved me right…" Beca replied with a shrug and another smile direct at Stacie. Before the other girl could reply, they arrived at Baker Hall and Jesse and Benji caught up, seemingly intent on following the two girls upstairs to hear what had happened.

When they hurried to catch up, Beca felt Stacie's arm tense briefly and the shorter girl couldn't help but run her thumb gently over the soft skin reassuringly. After telling Stacie her room number, the two girls lead the way upstairs, Jesse and Benji right behind them. Once upstairs Beca fished her keys from her pocket and opened the door to let everyone in. She heard Stacie take a seat on her bed and moved to join her. Jesse it seemed had taken her desk chair, but that left Benji standing. Beca, apparently, wasn't the only one to notice the problem as Jesse spoke up.

"Hmmm, you might want to think about getting a couch or something, Becs. Seeing as we're all freshmen here, I figure, we're probably going to be crashing here a lot to hang out…" The boy spoke up from her desk. He apparently had ideas that this was going to become some sort of crash pad, and Beca wasn't sure what she thought of that.

"Uh, yeah… That's not gonna be a thing. I mean, I'm not opposed to getting a couch, or something. But I like my space…" Beca said, gesturing vaguely towards the room. Her original plan of going to this school and getting her law degree without making any attachments was seeming to fizzle. She held back a sigh as she took in, in her own unique way, the three people in her dorm room. Then one of them started moving again.

"Awww Beca… Does that mean I'm not allowed in your space?" Stacie asked flirtatiously, scooting along the bed to sidle up next to her. Beca shook her head at the action, knowing by the playful, flirtatious tone that Stacie was mostly joking, but still a little bit serious.

"Well, you're allowed in, I guess…" Beca said, playing back and throwing an arm around the taller girl's waist. As soon as she did so she heard an almost inaudible grunt from Jesse, like someone had just sucker-punched him in the gut when he wasn't looking. Well, she had tried to warn him earlier. But she supposed that this might be just as effective.

"So…" Jesse said after taking a minute to collect himself apparently. She felt Stacie stiffen a little as the boy spoke up, expecting what was coming. Sure enough, Jesse went on, "Do you wanna tell us what's going on? I mean, like Beca said, it seems an odd place to be crying…"

"It's… It's nothing, really. I was just wanting to report a bad experience I had…" Stacie said smoothly. Beca almost smiled at the words, though. The girl was good. But it's hard to hide that spike in heart rate. The flush of blood to the skin. Stacie was lying. But the other girl kept on as cool as you please, she must have been practicing what to say on the way over for how easily she delivered the lie, "When I got here and was moving my stuff in, some guys were being jerks. And, well, I wanted to report them."

"Oh yeah, I think I know those guys!" Benji chimed in from near Beca's desk. Beca knew that she was the only one in the room to hear Stacie swallow in relief. Her breathing eased up and her heartbeat slowed down, just a touch, as Benji continued, "They were being really rude to some girls when I came in with my parents. Rating them and stuff and saying some really uncalled for things."

"Yeah, they're being a bunch of dicks. I hope you don't judge all of us by their actions, Stacie." Jesse said, and Beca could hear the chair creak a little as he leaned forward and no doubt smiled at the girl beside her. Beca was able to feel Stacie tense up just slightly, however, and that told her that she still wasn't too sure about the pair. Which, honestly, didn't surprise Beca much given what she had overheard about her previous evening's activities.

"No, of course not." The taller girl lied smoothly. Her left hand, sitting on Beca's leg, started to twitch slightly, one finger tapping against her jeans as Stacie went on, "I know all guys aren't like that. Still it wasn't too much fun. So, like I said, I went in to report them. And security basically just shut me down. They said something to the effect of 'boys will be boys' and told me it was pointless to try and report them."

"Wow. That is crap." Jesse said, disgust evident in his tone. It seemed that Benji agreed as well, if the other boy's silence was an indication. Beca could tell that Stacie really wanted to change topics, judging by the rigidity in how the other girl was holding herself beside Beca, so she decided that now might be a good time to change the subject.

"Yeah, it totally is. No offense to you two," the brunette said, gesturing with her free hand towards Jesse and Benji before continuing, "But it's something I've kind of gotten used to from men, though. It's part of the reason I want to go into law. See if I can, you know, flip the tables on some of that crap."

"Holy shit, you're studying law Beca?" Jesse's exclamation, and his racing heartbeat, told Beca that he still might be carrying a torch despite her interactions with Stacie. The next words out of Jesse's mouth were nearly enough to break through her willpower to contain her sigh. "That's awesome! I'm totally going pre-law too. Though I want to minor in music composition. I mean, I'd totally love to, like, go full time in music. Move to Hollywood, you know, and score movies. Bring audiences to tears… But mom insisted on law, or something like it. Something sensible that would 'earn me a decent living'…"

Beca heard, but didn't really pay attention, to Benji as he replied to Jesse's comments about parents and them making career choices for their kids. Apparently he wanted to become a professional magician, but Beca tuned it out as she leaned closer to Stacie and whispered, "Don't worry, we'll teach those idiots at security a lesson…"

The brunette girl didn't need eyes to feel that smile that Stacie tossed her way. She could tell that Stacie was about to say something when the sound of a familiar set of footsteps came to a halt outside her door moments before the person they belonged to knocked.

"Hey, this is campus police! Hide your wine coolers!" The voice, the oh-so-familiar voice called from the other side of the door. Whatever effect her words had had on the other girl, who had relaxed noticeably after Beca had spoken, was undone in an instant as Stacie froze. Benji and Jesse also stopped their conversation immediately and turned towards the door, which was opening. As she had known would happen, her dad stepped through and said, "Don't worry, it's just your old man. Making a joke. Oh, you're not alone…"

"Chris Rock, everybody…" Beca said, this time not bothering to hide her sigh as she heard her dad step in and close the door. She knew he probably was surprised to see three people aside from her in the room. He, of course, knew how little she normally liked people, and had arranged the private room partially to accommodate that. Beca had a feeling it was also to show off that he could and another attempt to try and "spoil" her. She also didn't bother to resist rolling her eyes.

"Sorry. I hadn't known you'd, uh, already made friends on campus. Hell, I wouldn't have known you were on campus if Mary down at the administration office hadn't sent me a message saying you'd come to get your welcome packet. How did you even manage to get here?" He asked, sternness creeping into his tone as he tried to lecture her. It was one of the things that drove Beca the craziest about her dad. He always seemed to think she couldn't get by without him. As though he was doing her a huge favor…

"I'm blind dad, not crippled. I took a cab. I knew you were busy today with all the new students on campus, and didn't wanna bother you. How is the step-monster's conference going?" Beca asked, knowing that her acerbic tone would irritate him but that he couldn't do anything about it. She also could hear Benji and Jesse shuffling around nervously, obviously waiting to be introduced. Stacie had separated herself a little bit from Beca once the other girl had realized that it wasn't, in fact, campus police, and seemed to be avoiding looking at her father.

"Sheila's conference? Oh, it's going great. I mean, she hates the heat out in Vegas this time of year but…" Her dad started to reply before she cut him off. She'd known that he would take the bait, it was pretty much the one thing she appreciated about him. He was predictable.

"No, no, dad. I don't actually care. I just enjoy calling her 'step-monster'…" She said, enjoying the sound of his teeth grinding as she cut him off. Despite having lived with him and Sheila for years since her mom passed away, Beca wouldn't deny that she derived a great deal of pleasure from irritating him. Finally deciding to introduce everyone she gestured around the room and said, "And yeah, I have some new friends. Benji, Jesse, Stacie… This is my father, Professor Mitchell. Dad meet Benji, Jesse, and Stacie."

"Nice to meet you all. I teach Comparative Literature here." Her dad said in response to the hellos from the trio of students. She heard him moving through the room, heard him crack open the blinds and look down as he tried to contain his irritation. When he finally spoke up again he seemed to have gotten it mostly under control as he said, "So, have you guys been down on the quad? During the spring time students like to sit down there and study under the…"

"Uh no, actually. We haven't been. But we were thinking about it." Beca said quickly, trying desperately to come up with a way to extricate herself, and the others, from this situation. Stacie must have sensed her discomfort, however, as the brunette spoke up.

"We were actually just coming back to drop off that packet before heading down there. There's some sort of Activities Fair going on, we thought we'd check it out." Beca could have kissed the other girl as she felt Stacie stand up beside her. She almost seriously did it when the other girl reached down to help her stand as well. Gesturing for Benji and Jesse to follow, the two boys seeming confused about the odd events going on, she added, "It was, uh, a pleasure meeting you Professor Mitchell. I'm sure we'll see you around campus."

Beca heard her dad calling out a good bye, and asking her to text him later when she got back so they could talk, but by that point in time she was already out the door with Stacie, Benji and Jesse right behind them.

"You owe me one, Mitchell." Stacie said quietly, more of a purr than anything else. Beca had a feeling she might enjoying paying that one back, however. Shaking her head ruefully, she let the other girl guide her downstairs, the two boys following behind like puppy dogs.

* * *

Chloe took a few deep breaths as she stood beside Aubrey at the Barden Bellas booth. The day had been a bit of a trial already, before they even got the Activities Fair. After her shower Aubrey had had to go over all the prep work she had done before cleaning, but Chloe had kind of expected that to happen.

What she hadn't counted on was the way the blond had fretted over details that were, in Chloe's mind, completely out of their control. Things like what the Trebles might be doing, or how hard it was going to be to find ten "smoking hot girls with bikini-ready bodies who could harmonize and had perfect pitch"… Sadly that was a phrase that she had heard far, far too often in the last few weeks. Whenever her friend started in on the phrase her brain basically sang along. It was getting to be highly annoying, but Chloe had long ago given up on trying to control her brain. It just wasn't gonna happen.

Still, the booth looked good now. The fliers ready to be handed out, the pair of them looking hot and ready to kick some ass. It was going to be a good day. Chloe knew it. She had faith. Of course there was always…

"Oh my god, Chlo. How are we even going to…? I mean, ugh. I can't believe we're in this position. It's all my fault, but I still have a hard time– " The blond was saying, nervously running her hands over her dress for the umpteenth time. Chloe stepped forward and grasped the blond's hands, catching her friend's eyes with her own and staring until Aubrey stopped twitching nervously.

"Aubrey, relax. We got this. People are starting to come onto the quad, our fliers are kick-ass, and we're the tits. Remember that. And stop fussing with your dress. You look marvelous." Chloe said, seeing her friend take a deep breath. Then another one. By the third it seemed that Aubrey was finally calming down, which made Chloe feel better.

Aubrey was normally the steady one out of the two of them. Usually so solid and staid. Chloe's rock during troubled times. Except, for some strange reason, with regards to everything to do with the Bellas following their performance the previous year at the ICCAs. It baffled Chloe, but she took it in stride, knowing that Aubrey accepted far more oddities from herself than she had to put up with from the blond.

"You're right… I mean, you're right!" Aubrey said, moving her hands up until she was clasping hands with Chloe. Giving the redhead's hands a squeeze, Aubrey smiled her thanks to the other girl and Chloe nodded happily back. Walking around to the other side of the booth, her back to where the Trebles were currently setting themselves up by the stairs, Aubrey took a stack of fliers and said, "We got this, Chloe. We just need to find ten smoking hot girls…"

 _With bikini-ready bodies who can harmonize and have perfect pitch._ Her mind automatically repeated in a sing-song voice. Chloe just shook her head and joined the other girl on the "business" side of the table and took up her clipboard and stack of fliers. As she turned back to face the quad, already filling up with freshmen and other students of Barden, Chloe caught sight of a group of guys walking en masse around the area. Faintly she was able to hear them chanting, and based off what she was able to pick up, it seemed that the guys from Sigma Beta Theta were out in force and recruiting.

She managed to repress a shudder thinking about them, but only barely. Something about the group just gave her a kind of creepy vibe. But when she'd tried to explain that to Aubrey after the blond had booked the Bellas there for a performance about a week after auditions, the taller girl hadn't listened. She told Chloe that she was just "overreacting" and while that might have been a little true, the SBT guys hadn't ever really bothered her, she still felt strange around them.

But Aubrey was also right when she said that they'd need money if they hoped to make it back to the Finals. With their disastrous performance the school had basically cut off any funding they could have hoped to receive, sending it instead to the Treblemakers, which meant that the Bellas were basically on their own. The two of them had brainstormed some fundraising ideas that didn't involve performing for creepy frat boys drinking bad beer, but even Chloe had to admit that the Sigmas' offer was hard to turn down.

As if speaking of the Treblemakers was a cue to whomever was in charge of the universe, Chloe rolled her eyes as she heard their rivals start up a rendition of "Let it Whip" from where they were set up just a short distance away. As their song drifted over to Aubrey and herself, the blond uttered words that Chloe knew would probably define most of what the next several months at Barden held in store for her.

"I will stop at nothing to take those ding-a-lings down."

* * *

If it had seemed like there was a large number of people out on the grounds of Barden University before, it was nothing to how things were now. More and more students arrived every minute, and after getting settled into their dorms, most of them seemed to be taking to the quad to check out the Activities Fair. Stacie smiled as the foursome stepped out onto the paved walks and the sun hit her face. For the first time since the night before she was finally starting to feel better. Part of it, she had a feeling, had to do with the fact that the boys, Jesse and Benji, seemed to be picking up on her discomfort around them, and part was due, no doubt, to the cute little brunette beside her.

Stacie hadn't ever chosen to label herself in terms of her sexuality. Sex was sex, and it was all fun. As long as it was what she wanted, she admitted to herself as they walked towards the quad, the boys trailing slightly behind her and Beca. The previous night had really shaken her, and when she'd woken up in the bushes this morning with her clothes disheveled and only vague memories of the night before, she knew she had panicked a little. While all the details were still a little fuzzy, she remembered a boy, and talking about some party at the Sigma Beta Theta house. Then things got vague. She remembered something getting pressed over her face from behind, and then people talking, but she couldn't remember the words.

The trip to the security office had been beyond useless. They had almost seemed to be hinting that anything that had happened to her was her own fault. But maybe she'd just misunderstood… No, she's pretty sure she hadn't misunderstood. A slight tug on her arm brought Stacie back to the fact that she wasn't alone.

"So I'm guessing you aren't really all the interested in anything here at the Fair, are you?" Stacie asked, turning to smile at the shorter girl at her side before she remembered that Beca couldn't see her smiling. The taller brunette shook her head ruefully at how ingrained her own actions were, something that it appeared Beca felt it as the shorter girl chuckled before responding.

"I mean, not really. How many activities can a blind girl really take part in?" Beca asked, always preferring to give people the impression that she was less capable than she was. Before either girl could say anymore, Benji and Jesse came up on either side of them, pointing across the quad at something. Stacie hadn't even realize she'd stepped closer to Beca until she felt the shorter girl pressing into her side.

"Hey ladies…" Jesse said, flashing a toothy grin at both girls before continuing. "So Benji really wants to go check out this a capella group they have here, the Barden Treblemakers. You wanna come with, or should we maybe meet up later for lunch?"

"A capella? That's, like, a thing?" Beca asked, which caused Stacie to laugh. Covering her laugh with the hand not held by Beca's, Stacie tried to not make eye contact with Benji beside her as the kid looked like someone had just run over his puppy. When Beca spoke again, Stacie nodded her agreement with the shorter girl, "Yeah, I think we'll pass on that. What about you, Stacie?"

"I mean, I'm not opposed to a capella. And I actually think I've heard of the Treblemakers. From what I heard, they're an all-boys group. So, yeah, I think we'll skip it." Stacie said, finally getting her laugh under control. She had forgotten how good it felt to laugh, actually laugh, about something. Squeezing Beca's arm and pressing herself up against the shorter girl she added, "But I think we can meet up for lunch. I saw a pizza place just off campus, Mario's I think it was called…"

"Oh yeah, I know the place. We'll meet there later, say two hours?" Jesse said, taking point on the conversation as Benji still looked like someone killed his dog despite Stacie's apparent support of a capella. When she and Beca both nodded, Jesse went on, "Well, that's settled then. Come on, Benji, let's check out some organized nerd singing."

Stacie rolled her eyes at the boys' backs as they wandered off, but she couldn't help feeling a little relieved that they were gone. Giving Beca's hand a squeeze, she turned towards the blind girl and said, "So… Not into a capella, eh? Well, what does interest you, besides flirting with hot girls? Maybe we can find some interesting club around here…"

"Uhhh…" Beca said, scratching the back of her head. She'd never really been an activities sort of person, it wasn't easy to do them when you were blind and didn't have her talents and training. And when you did have her talents and training, well, doing activities sort of gave it away. Shrugging at Stacie she said, "Well, to be honest, I'm not really an 'activities' kind of girl. At least not activities that take place outdoors… Well, there was that one time…"

"Oooooh! That sounds like a juicy story, dish!" Stacie said, pulling Beca off to the side of the path and grinning down at the shorter girl. Before the blind girl could answer, though, a sign caught her eye and she broke into a genuine smile. Taking Beca's arm and tucking it back under her own Stacie spoke as she walked them out into the crowd, "Actually, I think I see something. You like music, right? Like DJing and stuff? Well, I see a sign with a big D and J on it. Shall we?"

As it turned out, the "DJ" club wasn't really one that Beca would be interested in. Though Stacie tried to feign an interest once the two deaf Jews had stepped forwards and started trying to talk to them. Beca, however, just seemed to have a smirk plastered on her face and once the pair had left the table, Stacie couldn't help but join her in laughing at the situation. If there was a group less suitable for a blind alternative chick like Beca then it had to be the Deaf Jews club of Barden.

Of course, that wasn't the only odd group running around the quad. A couple of the groups were quite literally running around the quad as well, like the "Running In A Circle" club. The pair shared another laugh over that one. All in all the morning was going much better than Stacie could have imagined after the horror of what had almost happened the previous night. And she had a feeling that a good deal of her good humor came from the short brunette beside her.

As they stood for a moment taking a break with Stacie scanning the various booths to see if there was actually anything worth doing at the school, her eye caught sight of another group of running people and she couldn't hold back the snort of laughter.

"What? You find a 'Sitting In A Square' group or something?" Beca asked, her hand lightly holding Stacie's arm just above the elbow.

"Uh, no. Not exactly. Ummm, how much do you, you know, read books?" Stacie asked, wanting to share the humor, but unsure how to broach the subject. So she decided to just go bold and jump right into it, as was her typical style.

"Well, I guess that depends on how you define 'read'." Beca said, her head turning towards Stacie's face, a habit that the taller brunette had noticed that Beca tended to do often when they were talking. She wondered if it was just a courtesy thing. After a second, the shorter girl continued, "First off, a lot of books nowadays are realized in audiobook format, so that helps…"

"Oh yeah, I didn't think about that. Do you have books and stuff on your phone as well as music?" Stacie asked, her eyes darting to where the cord for her headphones snaked into the pocket of the shorter girl's jeans.

"Umm, no. I don't tend to listen to a lot of audiobooks, it's basically all just music. I was using it as an example, really. I find it faster to figure things out by touch…" The shorter girl said, her fingers running lightly over Stacie's arm for a moment. As Stacie tried to gather her wits after that statement, Beca went on in a completely innocent tone, "I've found that, like people with normal vision can read faster than they can listen to an audiobook, I can read faster and easier with books printed in braille. Sadly they are harder to find, but usually worth it… Why?"

"Ummm, well, sorry. Yeah, well, I was curious if you had read the Harry Potter books." Stacie said, her brain still a little fuzzy from the other girl's touch. In fact, the taller girl was fairly sure she was losing her mind. She was usually the one with the overt sexual double-entendres and innuendo. She wasn't normally this out of sorts after some compliments and light flirting either.

"Oh, well why didn't you just say so? Yeah, I read those ages ago. Good books. I like how she made the books age as well alongside the character's growing up, you know? How the earlier books were obviously designed for kids, but the older books had more mature content in them? It was pretty slick." Beca said, turning her head back as though she was looking out over the crowd and arching her back in a stretch. Stacie's eyes were immediately drawn to the decent amount of cleavage now on display thanks to Beca's maroon tank top.

"I, um, well, nevermind. Anyway, it appears that there's a 'Quiditch Club' we could go join. I'm sure it's where all the cool kids are." Stacie said, her voice deadpan and her face straight for a solid two seconds before she started to laugh. Beca joined in, making a comment about she was sure she'd fit in just fine there, which caused the pair to laugh harder.

After their shared chuckle over the Harry Potter themed club, Beca tucked her arm through Stacie's once more and the pair started off again. The brunette tried to keep her eyes open for interesting clubs, but nothing really seemed to grab her attention. Until, that is, someone almost literally grabbed her attention by thrusting a flyer directly at Beca and herself.

"Hi, any interest in joining our a capella group?" The redhead offering the flyer asked, looking back and forth between Stacie and Beca. Stacie, for possibly the first time in her life, was actually struck speechless by the vision in front of her. The stunningly beautiful girl was completely breathtaking, Stacie knew that her gaze was dancing over the girl from head to foot, but couldn't have stopped it if she'd wanted to. From the perfectly coifed hair, to the long toned legs on display thanks to the dress the girl had on Stacie was enthralled and it took the taller brunette a few minutes to shake the feeling. Thankfully, or perhaps not so thankfully, Beca wasn't able to see the vision that Stacie saw, and as it became apparent that that taller girl wasn't going to say anything, Beca chose to speak up.

"Oh, right, this is like a thing now." Beca said, the sarcasm and almost disdain for a capella evident in her voice shaking Stacie from her stupor. Jerking her eyes away from the gorgeous girl, Stacie took the flyer that the redhead was offering and tried not to wince at Beca's response, nearly identical to what she'd said to Jesse and Benji earlier.

"Totes! We sing covers of songs, but we do it without any instruments at all." The redhead was saying, obviously beyond excited at the prospect of a capella. The giant grin on her face didn't change a whit as she spoke, using her pen to point at her mouth she went on, "It's all from our mouths!"

The taller girl tried desperately hard not to laugh or crack some sexual joke about other things being done all with her mouth. As she tried to restrain herself, she looked at Beca, who must have felt the movement, because the shorter girl turned towards her and quirked her eyebrow. Which meant that she was probably thinking exactly the same thing, and that caused Stacie to snort out a quick laugh. Hiding her mouth behind her hand to cover her laugh, she could only watch helplessly as Beca said, "Yikes."

Stacie, trying to forestall the inevitable explosion, tried to jump in and smooth things over, "What she meant to say was how amazing that is. The things you, uh, you two can do with your mouths."

Coughing to cover what Stacie expected was a snort of laughter, Beca was completely oblivious to the expression on the girl's face. Still, the tall brunette had to admit that the shorter girl was quick on her feet, so to speak, as she recovered quickly and said, "Yeah, that's, uh, that's totally what I meant. I'm a huge fan of music, we both are, really. And that you guys can make music with just your mouths…"

"Isn't it though?" The redhead responded, her gaze drifting between Stacie and Beca as she seemed to completely miss the innuendo in what they both had said. Her blond friend, however, had quirked an eyebrow and swept her gaze up and down both of them appraisingly. She seemed to dismiss Beca fairly quickly, but her eyes lingered on Stacie a bit longer seeming to like what she saw, and Stacie felt herself preening a bit under the look.

"Actually, we heard that a capella is kind of a thing here at Barden, right?" Stacie asked the pair, looking back and forth between the two so she doesn't get caught staring at the one.

"Oh totes. There's, like, four groups on campus. The Bellas. That's us. We're the tits." The redhead said, winking at the two brunette girls. She then pointed out the various groups around the Activities Fair, including the group that Benji and Jesse had gone to meet as she names them off, "The BU Harmonics. They sing a lot of Madonna. Uh, the High Notes. They're not particularly… motivated. And then there's…"

Stacie can't help but chuckle as the redhead's words trail off into a dirty look, shared by the blond, as they all turn to look at the Treblemakers. Obviously there's some rivalry going on there, and Stacie has a feeling that the Bellas have been getting the short end of the stick on it. During the girl's speech Beca obviously got no benefit of having the groups pointed out, and Stacie saw the shorter girl open her mouth with what would no doubt be another aspersion on a capella.

Squeezing Beca's arm as subtly as she could to stop her from speaking, Stacie turned her attention back to the two Bellas as the redhead spoke up again, holding up a clipboard hopefully, "So, are you two interested in signing up?"

"Sorry, it's just… It's pretty lame." Beca said, obviously the subtle hint wasn't enough for the short girl, and Stacie had to resist mightily the urge to cover her face in her hands. As it was, she felt herself blush awkwardly and avert her gaze. And if Beca could have seen the way the redhead's face just dropped at her words, Stacie just knew that the shorter girl wouldn't have said that. She hoped.

The blond on the other hand…

"Aca-scuse me? Synchronized lady dancing to a Mariah Carey chart topper is _not_ lame!" The blond said, immediately bringing Stacie's attention back to the pair of Bellas. The brunette could tell that the girl was trying really hard to stay polite, but it seemed like it might be a losing battle. Thankfully before she could say anymore, the redhead jumped back in.

"We sing all over the world and we compete in national championships." The redhead seemed to have regained her confidence, because by the end of the sentence she was beaming at the two of them again. Especially at Beca, though Stacie sadly knew that the blind girl wouldn't know that.

"On purpose?" Beca asked, before Stacie covered her mouth with her hand. She felt the shorter girl start suddenly, instinctively jerking her arms up briefly before she caught herself. Turning to face the two girls she was about to speak when the blond beat her to the point, obviously still fired up from before.

"We played the Cobb Energy Performing Arts Center, you bitch!" Stacie had a hard time not laughing aloud at those words. Whoever the blond was she was obviously super proud of being a Bella, and of all the things that the Bellas had done. It was really cute, in an odd sort of way. Before Stacie could say anything, she felt Beca's mouth open a split second before the shorter girl's tongue reached out and almost caressed her palm. It was extremely disconcerting for Stacie, as enthralled with this vision of loveliness before her, to have Beca's tongue running in what could only be described as a fairly seductive way over her palm. Her gaze flew back to Beca as she dropped her hand, staring at the shorter girl, what the blond had said nearly forgotten in the mischievous smirk that appeared once her hand had moved.

The two Bellas, however, appeared oblivious to what had happened. The redhead, obviously the more diplomatic of the pair, hastened to jump in and cover for her friend, "Oh! What Aubrey means to say is that we are a close-knit, talented group of ladies whose dream is to return to the national finals at Lincoln Center this year. Help us turn our dreams into a reality?"

It seemed that Beca had finally caught on that Stacie was trying not to insult these girls, which turned out to be a good thing. Because all Stacie was able to think about was turning some other dreams into reality, and as a result she almost didn't hear Beca respond, "Sorry, I don't even sing, but it was really nice to meet you guys…"

The redhead again looked like her dreams were being crushed. The blond, Aubrey, however almost looked happy at that response. Turning a bright grin onto Stacie she said, "Well, what about you? You're _definitely_ Bellas material. Can you sing?"

"Oh I think you could say that, yeah…" Stacie said, smirking back at her. As she did, she heard Beca sigh, and knew that the shorter girl really had no interest in a capella. However if the rest of the Bellas were as attractive as these two, then The Hunter would be well situated to have plenty of fun.

"Well, while you do that, I'm gonna go have a seat. There a bench nearby?" Beca asked, unlooping her arm from Stacie's, who immediately missed the heat and contact. Looking around briefly she spotted one nearby as Beca pulled her white cane out.

"Uh, yeah. Go about 100 feet to your right, down the sidewalk, then turn left and go another 50 feet or so. I see one sitting under a tree over there. I'll be over there soon. I just wanna talk to…" But the shorter girl was already walking away, her cane tapping out a rhythm on the pavement that was soon lost in the din to Stacie. Her gaze followed Beca for a moment, to make sure she was getting on ok, before returning to Aubrey and her friend, both of whom seemed shocked by the appearance of the cane.

"Oh god, is she blind? I can't believe I didn't notice. I feel terrible…" The redhead was saying, her gaze lingering even longer on Beca's retreating form. She seemed genuinely upset by it too, and Stacie was a little surprised that she didn't take off after her to apologize. Aubrey, meanwhile, had a different reaction.

"See Chloe, I told you she wasn't Bellas material. Can you imagine trying to teach a blind girl to do choreography?" Aubrey asked quietly, looking down at the redhead, whose gaze snapped back to her. Chloe seemed like she was about to snap right back at the taller girl, when Stacie cleared her throat, reminding them that she was still standing there.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. So, did you want to sign up for auditions?" Chloe asked, holding out the clipboard with a signup sheet on it. Aubrey, Stacie was glad to see, at least seemed a little abashed at her having heard the comment, and instead turned her gaze out over the crowd for a moment.

"I don't know… I mean, I don't know a lot of folks here, and that blind girl whom I just met this morning has been so far one of the best I've met." Stacie said, seriously considering walking away right there. A quick glance down at the clipboard showed her a rather short list of names, including a "Fat Amy" which gave her a moment's hesitation. It made her wonder if the girls were that desperate for people.

"Aubrey didn't mean that. We'd be delighted to have her. To have both of you, if you still want to join us…?" Chloe asked again, lifting the clipboard just a bit closer towards Stacie. Which told the taller girl that she was right, they seemed kind of desperate for sign-ups, and it made her wonder why. A glance at Aubrey proved that there was something on the blond's face, something that might have been regret over her word choice. And with the feel of both girls' eyes on her, Stacie knew she wouldn't be able to say no to them. Taking the clipboard, she started to fill out her information. She was tempted to do Beca's too, but thought that might be a bit hopeful. Maybe she could talk the shorter girl into coming with her to auditions…

* * *

Beca wasn't sure what to do, but she did feel a little bad. She knew that she could sing. Could sing quite well in fact. But a capella was just sooooo lame. She thought about it all as she made her way towards the bench, sort of following Stacie's directions, but also having smelled the pine used to make up the wooden bench. Once she was close enough she knew exactly where it was, the way sound distorted against it, how it broke up and disrupted air currents, the smell of pine and the tang of the metal. Still, she had to pretend she didn't know what was up, so she kept tapping away until her cane impacted the leg of the bench.

Lowering herself onto it, she let her sense stretch out. She tried not to let herself get upset by what Aubrey had said to her friend when she'd been walking away. She had heard her say just before they walked past the table that Aubrey felt that she was "a little too alternative" for them. She wasn't totally wrong, though, about having a blind person doing choreography. Though Beca also wasn't your typical blind person.

Still, the saving grace, as the shorter girl thought more about how it could work, is that if it all truly was choreographed, then a blind person would really only need to learn WHERE on the stage she needed to be at any given part of the song. In a way, it wasn't that different from a normal person, she reasoned, who would still need to be taught to take three steps forward here, one step to the side there, and so on.

So caught up was she in thinking about how it would work being blind and having to learn choreographed dance moves that it took her a little while to realize that she couldn't hear Stacie talking to the two Bellas anymore. Nor did it sound like she was heading towards her.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Well, here it is, chapter 3 of The Devil of Barden. I hope you guys are enjoying it, and if you have any questions regarding this fic, feel free to shoot me a PM and I can clear things up. There are some pretty marvelous things I've got planned, at least I think so, so let's keep on rolling with this. Zap wanted to leave a note, so here it is.

 **Zap's note:** This delay's on me. Bed was mighty comfortable and it was raining, which I love hearing on my roof, so I wasn't in any hurry to get up. And then Smeg pissed me off and I lost motivation, and I would like to apologize for that meaning this got to you later. Some good stuff happens here, I regret keeping it from you over a petty squabble.

With that all said, I'll let you get on to reading chapter 3. If you like it, if you hate it, leave a review and let me know what tickled your fancy or raised your ire! Enjoy the chapter, everyone!

* * *

 **The Devil of Barden - Chapter 3**

Beca felt a quick stab of panic, something that the blind girl hadn't really known much of in the last several years, creep into her when she realized that she didn't know where Stacie had gotten off to. But she calmed herself with a series of quick, fast breaths in followed by slow exhales. Focusing her attention, she started to listen hard. She could easily distinguish the brunette's voice now, even in a crowd this size.

It took her a moment, but finally she caught Stacie's voice coming from down the path she was on. She had already started to move in that direction, her cane tapping along the ground, when the relief at hearing Stacie's voice faded and what she was actually saying finally occurred to her. The other girl sounded a bit harassed as she said, "I'm really not interested, thank you. I just wanted to check out that booth over there, for my friend. Please, leave me alone."

Now that she had zeroed in on her friend's voice, she was able to tell that the other girl wasn't alone, either. Five, maybe six people were all nearby her in close proximity. Males, if she had to guess, judging by the deeper chuckles that emanated from them at Stacie's words. One of them spoke up, "Aww, come on sweet thing. You and your friend will have more fun with us. I promise, we're the best club around."

"Yeah, I really doubt that." Stacie said back, and though her words were tough, Beca could hear, even at this distance, the fear that threaded through them. She heard the other girl try and push her way out of what seemed to be the circle of men surrounding her, only to be caught if her sudden intake of breath was evidence of anything. Beca started moving a bit faster, and heard another pair of footsteps almost moving purposefully towards the group.

"Now, now, girl. No need to be all confrontational. We'll all have fun, I promise." The boy, obviously the leader, said again. And this time Beca was close enough to hear Stacie grunt in pain and stumble as he obviously tugged on her to bring her closer to him.

"Seriously, I'm not interested, now leave me alone or I'll–" Stacie started to say, but the other boys just laughed. Beca was closer now, but still not close enough to do anything yet. And even still, when she got there, what could she do. She knew she could probably take all of them, but in broad daylight in front of so many people would be risky at best.

"Yeah, you'll nothing. No one would believe a girl like you wasn't just asking for attention…" The boy said, and it made Beca think of the line that the security guard had said to Stacie earlier. It was almost the exact same line. Finally Beca had closed the distance to be near enough to try and help, she figured that maybe bluffing would be best for the first try. Before things got more serious.

"Hey Stace, are you almost ready to go? My dad was wanting to take us out for dinner before he took off." Beca called out, slowing down and focusing her attention on the five boys surrounding Stacie. All of them seemed shocked by her sudden interference, drawing in surprised gasps or turning quickly to face her.

"Oh, hey Becs. Yeah, I'm so done with this. It's really nice of him to take us both out, who'd have thought an NYPD detective would be so awesome." Stacie said, and by the sudden shift in air currents Beca felt, the blind girl knew that Stacie had yanked her arm out of the lead boys grasp. She thought that the other girl might be laying it on a bit thick, and was wondering if it might have been an oversell that they'd see through, when the other pair of footsteps Beca had heard stopped nearby and a familiar voice called out.

"Hey Howie, hey guys. I know you like having us Bellas over, but at least wait until we audition them first." Aubrey's voice, tight with controlled emotions announced the presence of what must be herself and Chloe into the mix. With so much attention on the group, the boys must have been rethinking whatever plans they'd had as Beca heard them all starting to shuffle away. Taking advantage of a break in the circle, Stacie rushed past the guys and Beca felt her sidle up alongside her, still trembling slightly at the encounter.

"Oh, hey Aubrey. Is this one going to be one of yours?" The boy said, sounding a bit nervous now. Beca could hear the group with Howie shuffling their feet and could tell by the way their hearts were beating that they were nervous. She wondered what might have happened had both she and the two Bellas not shown up. Whatever might have happened, Beca had a feeling that it wouldn't have been a pleasant outcome. It also raised some disturbing questions for the young lawyer-to-be that she kind of wanted answers to. Something was off at this school, Beca knew that much even though she'd only been here for a few hours.

"Well, she said she wanted to audition. So let's let her try out and be accepted. Then when the Bellas play at the SBT house, we can all have fun at the after party." Beca had to admit, the way Aubrey was standing up to the boy , who as far as Beca could tell, had likely several inches and quite a few pounds on the Bella, was a little impressive. In fact, Aubrey's heart wasn't even beating that fast, she was cool, calm, and collected. But Beca had a feeling that she wouldn't stay that way if things went sideways.

An interesting bit of food for thought, that was sure. But it was for another time, right now she just wanted to get Stacie away. Taking hold of Stacie's arm, Beca said, "Well, like I said, we gotta go. But, uh, nice to see you two again… So to speak."

Beca could tell that Stacie as well as the two Bellas were shocked by what she'd said. Of course, the phrase had slipped out without her meaning to say it. Not that she'd have said it differently if she'd thought about it. She wasn't going to change who she was for other people. And she wasn't going to let her disability, her gift, change the way she acted either. With a bit of steady pressure on Stacie's arm, she guided the brunette past the group and off towards the rest of the Activities Fair.

When they were a sufficient distance away that she didn't think the two Bellas or the guys from SBT, whatever that was, could hear her she said, "Hey, are you ok?"

"Yeah… No, yeah… No, I'm totally cool." Stacie said, still flustered from her sudden encounter with the group of boys. Beca could hear Aubrey and Chloe exchange a few more words with the boys before heading back towards their booth, though she noticed that Chloe's voice was oddly tense and clipped when she said her goodbyes.

"Yeah, you totally sound cool. Don't worry about those jerks. What were you doing over there anyway? I thought you were gonna meet me at the bench…" Beca asked, trying to distract the taller girl from what they'd just left. She could still hear Stacie's heart fluttering rapidly in her chest and feel how the other girl occasionally gave a nearly undetectable twitch under her arm.

"I… It was stupid. I was totally going to join you at the bench, but I saw this booth. It was about internships." Stacie said, and Beca could hear the half smile that the other girl was probably wearing in her voice. She also felt the other girl twist and gesture back towards where she'd been as she went on, "I, uh… There was one at the radio station. I thought you might be interested in that. So, well, I was gonna get some info for you."

"That… Wow. That's like, super awesome, Stace. Thank you." Beca said, actually touched by the other girl's thoughtfulness. She didn't know if she'd like being an intern at a radio station, chances are they wouldn't even let her play music, but it wouldn't have hurt to try. Looking up towards Stacie's face she gave a genuine smile to the taller girl and felt some of the nervous energy that she was obviously feeling dissipate a bit.

"Yeah, well, those muscle-brained idiots interrupted me before I could get any info. We could always go back…" Stacie's voice definitely quavered a little as she suggested going back to check out the internship. Beca was already shaking her head, though, before the taller girl had finished. She might have been interested in it, if she could play music, but wasn't going to put Stacie through walking back through the crowd.

"Nah, I'm not worried about it. I'm touched that you had the idea, though. I'm sure they'd just have the interns like stacking CDs or something. I'm pretty sure I'd be useless for that job…" Beca said, chuckling at herself as she groped with one hand in the air in front of her pretending to put away CDs. It had the desired effect as Stacie laughed. Deciding that maybe they were done at the Fair she gave the other girl's arm a squeeze and said, "Come on, how about you guide us back to my room and we can hang out. Text Jesse that we'll meet up with him and Benji another time. I have some music you might like…"

She knew that the other girl was still beyond rattled, but she had a feeling that some time just hanging out and relaxing while listening to music might be nice. Plus, it would give her a chance to get to know the other girl better on a personal level. Maybe even get more details about what happened the night before.

* * *

"Seriously, Tiny B, these things are fucking great!" Stacie said, dancing in the empty space in Beca's room. The pair had come back a few hours earlier and Beca had opened her laptop and started playing some music. As the bass lines had started to thump out of the rather expensive stereo equipment, Stacie had felt in her bones the need to move.

Of course that had required that they actually do something about all the boxes of Beca's stuff scattered around the room. Stacie, who was more than happy to stay in the company of the super hot, though adorably tiny brunette had agreed to help Beca put things away. It was during the course of the unpacking and arranging of Beca's room that Stacie gave Beca the nickname "Tiny B". Mainly because she'd spent about five minutes watching Beca try to put some records on the top shelf of the built in unit against her wall but be unable to reach. Of course, she'd have probably jumped in to help her earlier, but she was too busy rolling on the bed laughing.

It wasn't all fun and games, though. The two had actually managed to have some almost serious conversations. One of the things that Stacie took for granted, as she saw Beca's chocolate colored hair bob along with the tempo of the music, was her sight. So they'd spent a while talking about how it was for Beca being blind.

She found out that Beca hadn't actually been born blind, as she'd initially suspected. The short girl had, after pausing the music, told of an accident that had happened when she was young. How something had spilled into her eyes and everything just went dark.

She had been very quiet when speaking about it, and Stacie had sat quietly and listened. After a few moments of silence, she had switched the topic to something lighter. She learned that Beca, despite her handicap, was an avid reader and loved books, comics, and basically anything she could get her hands on. Quite literally as it turned out. Beca showed Stacie the letter she'd gotten from the school, the one which had prompted her to head to the Administration Building where they'd later met, and the shorter girl explained how the language worked, with each grouping of dots representing letters and such.

It actually fascinated Stacie, who despite her killer body and healthy love of sex was actually coming into Barden as the valedictorian from her high school with an unmodified GPA of 4.32. At her obvious interest in the topic, Beca had shown Stacie the device which she could hook up to her laptop that could translate the text on the screen to braille characters that Beca could then read with her fingers.

Seeing Beca's delicate fingers tracing the lines of raised dots on the device took Stacie's mind to how differently it was that Beca saw the world, or rather felt it. Naturally with how Stacie's mind seemed to always drift back to sex whenever it wasn't occupied with other things, she'd blurted out the first thing that had come to her mind. How would Beca know if the person she was sleeping with was hot or not?

Beca had laughed at Stacie's bluntness, though the taller brunette did see a red flush appear on her neck and cheeks as she blushed. Beca explained that, for instance, to "see" someone for her was like how she read words. She had to feel it. Shoving aside the dirty thoughts that immediately had sprung to her mind, Stacie had asked her, then, how the shorter girl had known she was hot.

Beca had just grinned and answered with a question, asking Stacie if she was saying she wasn't hot. Stacie, determined to prove her hotness, had sat down beside Beca and taken the blind girls hands and very gentle placed them on her face. Beca smirked as she felt Stacie take hold of her, and it stayed on her face as her fingers lightly caressed the contours of the taller girl's face in what Stacie thought might have been the most intimate way of meeting someone she'd ever met.

As Beca's fingers moved across her skin to trail through the silky strands of her hair and Stacie heard her murmur that she wished she could still see, because touch would never tell her color. Stacie had just laughed, reaching out to run her fingers through Beca's hair and had told her that her hair was, like Beca's, brunette, but darker. As the shorter girl's smirk shifted into a smile, Stacie felt that a little brevity was required after their bit of serious discussion and took hold of Beca's hands again as she said that most people didn't even notice her hair or her face, though, because of a couple of her other assets.

Onto which she'd promptly squished Beca's hands.

The indignant squawk of protest was quite unlike what Stacie had expected, given the other girl's highly flirtatious manner earlier. Still, the mood had been effectively lightened and, since they had finished the unpacking, Stacie insisted that Beca put her music back on so they could dance. The shorter girl had said that dancing wasn't exactly her forte, but that Stacie was more than welcome to, and had sat down to start up the songs again.

"I'm not sure how I feel about that nickname, yet, you giraffe of a human being." Beca muttered darkly from where she sat at her computer. The taller girl just laughed, however, and danced over to the shorter girl. Taking the blind girl's hand she drew her up, which drew protests from Beca who said, "I'm warning you, Stacie. This is a bad idea. I can't see you and I'm libel to smack you while we're dancing."

"Well, we'll have to do something about that, then." The taller girl said, taking both of Beca's hands and placing one on her shoulder and the other at her hip. As she felt Beca's hands tighten briefly, Stacie started to move, swaying her hips back and forth and moving to the thumping bassline that was playing. After a few seconds Beca started to imitate her movements, and before long the pair were dancing quite happily along to the music.

Several songs later, feeling a little winded after all the events of the day, Stacie took hold of Beca's hands and walked over to the girl's bed and collapsed onto it, letting her breath out in a heavy sigh as she fell. She felt Beca's weight settle more delicately beside her as she realized that she hadn't actually taken any time to clean up after the events of the night. That made her realize that Beca, who had had her hands all over her for the last several minutes as they danced, and who was probably more sensitive to smell due to her lack of sight, was probably quite aware of that fact.

Sitting up suddenly, she felt a stab of nervousness shoot through her at the thought of going to the communal showers on her floor by herself. Beca seemed to sense the sudden change in her mood as she reached over and tapped blindly at the keyboard, making the music stop, before she asked, "Hey, what's up?"

"I, uh… I just realized that I, well, I haven't showered since last night. And with, well, everything, and then today." Stacie said, realizing as she had been about to speak that she'd never told Beca what happened the night before that prompted her to be at the security office this morning. Of course, Beca hadn't asked either, and she had, she now realized, taken a great deal of comfort that the shorter girl hadn't pushed the matter.

"Oh, crap. I guess I've been a terrible host… I didn't even think of that. You don't have to hang out with me all day long, I promise I can find ways to entertain myself…" Beca said, gesturing vaguely towards her laptop. Stacie shot a confused look at the other girl and, for a moment, forgot why that was completely pointless.

"No, don't worry about it. It isn't even you, cuz you've been such an amazing host that it didn't even occur to me until now. I, um…" Stacie trailed off, searching for words. She wasn't quite sure how to say that she wanted someone to go with her to the showers, just in case, without actually having to explain things. And she really didn't want to do that right now… She didn't normally hedge around asking people to jump into the shower with her. Though this wasn't really asking Beca to join her in the shower, per se. More join her in the shower room.

"Actually… Now that you mention it, what with the dancing, the walking, the moving and unpacking, I could use a shower too, if you wanted company. You wash my back, I'll wash yours?" Beca said with a flirty smirk shot Stacie's way. Which caused the taller girl to both gasp in surprise at the suddenly returned "Flirty Beca" and also let loose a shaky, relieved sigh that she wouldn't need to think up a reason why Beca should come to the shower room with her. Beca, it seemed, wasn't quite as serious about flirting as she'd come across, however, as she added after a moment's pause, "Seriously though, I wouldn't mind an actual shower. No mutual back washing is actually required…"

"I know we just met, but you might possible be the best person in existence…" Stacie said wistfully as she got up off the bed, offering her hand to Beca. Then realized Beca couldn't see said hand as the short girl climbed off the bed with simple ease. Stacie watched, slightly apprehensively, as Beca made her way across the room towards the closet. However when the short brunette arrived without incident, Stacie realized that part of the deliberate way in which Beca had had them arrange things earlier was so that the blind girl would know where things were when Stacie wasn't around. Which would probably be often.

"So, uh, I only have, like, four towels and I'm not sure how well one of my robes would fit you…" Beca's voice called from the closet a moment before the short girl came out holding said two robes. Leaning against the doorframe of the closet, the shorter girl turned her head in the direction of Stacie, who was still standing at the bed, as she said with another smirk on her face, "And from what I've been able to tell, my robe will be scandalously short on you. Shame I won't be able to see it. But it's yours if you wanna use it instead of heading up to your room…"

"Seriously, if there was a second bed in here, I'd move in." Stacie said, walking over to take the robe from Beca and, after holding it up beside her and chuckling at just how much of her legs would be showing in it, she continued, "For now, though, the robe and towels will be sufficient. Sadly I can't do anything about the great view you'll be missing. If you want, I can describe it for you though…"

Beca laughed as she turned back towards the closet to grab the towels and shower caddy that had her various supplies. Sticking out of the top was the handle of a razor and it made Stacie wonder how much of a pain in the ass it was to shave your legs while blind. Deciding not to ask, this time, the taller girl just watched as Beca piled he towels on the bed and, after taking her robe, turned her back on Stacie.

The taller girl got the hint immediately and turned as well, though it didn't stop her from taking a peak over her shoulder as Beca lifted her shirt over her head. Just because she was still a little freaked out from the night before didn't mean Beca wasn't absolutely gorgeous, and Stacie was still Stacie after all. But she limited herself to just the one peek before quickly stripping off her clothes and pulling on the robe. Hearing relative silence from behind her she turned around to see Beca standing there facing towards her and waiting with her head cocked to one side.

"All ready?" She asked as she looked Beca over. She couldn't help chuckling and finding it amusing how Beca's dark blue robe covered down past the shorter girl's knees whereas the lighter blue robe she wore stopped around mid-thigh. At a quirked eyebrow and curious expression from the shorter girl, Stacie said, "You should see the pair of us. You're almost a nun, I feel like a stripper. For that matter, you should see how little of my leg this midget sized robe of yours covers, Tiny B."

"Like I said, I can't help that you're freaking ginormous. Next time, use your own robe." Beca said, walking over and, apparently deciding to test Stacie's composure, running her hand down the robe till she found the end… And the bare skin of Stacie's thigh. Beca cooed appreciatively, however and added, "Damn, you're right. That thing is short. Should I bring my stick to beat people back with?"

"Nah, I think we're good. Your intimidating stature should scare 'em all off." Stacie laughed as she took the shorter girls hand off her thigh and looped it into her arm. Taking a few steps forward she bent to pick up the towels and, making sure Beca had the shower caddy, went to leave the room.

The walk down the hall to the showers was thankfully short and more or less people free. Stacie thought she heard some running footsteps from the floor above, but their floor was empty. Ducking into the showers Stacie pauses for a moment to listen, and hearing no running water says quietly, "Awesome, I think we have the place to ourselves."

"Well, you do know it's, like, really late, right?" Beca asks, speaking at a more normal tone. Stacie considers that fact for a moment before starting to head off to one of the more secluded corners of the shower room. Beca, Stacie realizes, doesn't have her cane with her, so the tall brunette keeps hold of the shorter girl's hand as they walk.

"I guess. I just, if it was me, I just think that unless I WANTED company during a shower, I'd take mine late at night or early in the morning." Stacie says as they finally get to a spot she thinks will be relatively quiet even if people should come in.

"You make a fair point." Beca says as Stacie stops next to two stalls towards the back. Once the taller girl has picked their spot, Stacie watches as Beca starts to slowly feel her way around the shower stall. Finding the hook between the two stalls, the railing, and the curtain she nods before going on, "Well, it's nothing spectacular, but it'll do in a pinch. I wonder what the water pressure is like…"

Stacie finds herself a little captivated as she studies the short, blind girl groping her way around. The casual way in which Beca's hand grazes over everything, identifying by touch the aspects of the shower with the occasional small, satisfied nod before moving on. When Beca pushes the curtain aside, Stacie remembers that she'd come here to shower, not stare at her new friend. Stepping back towards her own shower Stacie wastes no time in stripping her robe off, knowing that the other girl couldn't see anything anyway, nor really caring if she had.

Stacie had known from a young age that she was attractive, and frequently used it to her advantage. Until the other night, it had never had any really bad consequences. Even as she pushed away those thoughts, she couldn't stop the slight shiver that what might have happened elicited in her body. Sex was Stacie's domain, it had been since she realized in high school that most boys, and a lot of girls too, could be swayed in such a way. But the events of the previous night had invaded her domain.

Right now Stacie felt lost because of that, and she wasn't sure how to regain her balance. Movement from the corner of her eye caught her attention and she realized that Beca too had taken off her robe. Her breath caught slightly in her throat as she saw the exposed skin of the shorter girl's back, utterly flawless even under the harsh lighting of the shower room, disappear behind the curtain. She was so captivated by the sight she'd just seen that it wasn't until the water turned on in Beca's stall that she remembered what they were doing in that room.

Stepping into her own stall, Stacie turned on the water and, after a few minutes messing with the knob, found a comfortable temperature. Raising her voice to be heard over the water she called out, "Well, at least the water pressure is good. Shame they don't have handhelds…"

She could just barely hear Beca laugh through the barrier and over the sound of the water. It caused her to smile for a reason she hadn't yet examined too closely. The other girl's voice drifted back over the rushing water, "Yeah, you're definitely not wrong there. I'm going to put the shampoo and stuff on the floor between the stalls, but if you need anything else just let me know."

Stacie called out her thanks and set about starting to enjoy the warm water. Looking down between the stalls she saw the bottles of shampoo, conditioner, and body wash sitting under the divider, but found her attention riveted by the feet and calves she could barely see peeking out below the bottom edge. As she stood there in the hot water of her shower staring at Beca's legs, the brunette girl heard something that instantly whipped her head up.

Beca had started singing. Not loud, by any means, and if Stacie hadn't have been being super creepy and staring at her legs, the brunette probably wouldn't have noticed right away. But Beca had completely and totally lied to the Bellas earlier. She could indeed sing. In fact, she could sing _really_ well. Like Stacie was feeling herself drawn to the shorter girl kind of well. It was that moment that something occurred to Stacie.

For the first time since the night before, for a time when thinking about Beca, she hadn't been dwelling on what had happened, or what could have happened.

A slow smile crept onto the leggy brunette's face as she realized what, exactly, it was that she was feeling. A familiar old friend, come 'round to call again. For a moment she hesitated, briefly debating what it might mean to the budding friendship she had before deciding to cross that bridge when they came to it. With her mind made up, Stacie pushed open the shower curtain and quickly stepped up to Beca's before slowly sliding it aside as well.

The sight froze her, just as it had before, but this time she savored it. The glistening skin, water running in rivulets over flexing muscles. The gracefully curved lines of the tattoo on Beca's shoulder and how the shorter girl's shoulder blade slid beneath the skin, rippling the delicate flowers as though they floated on a breeze. Stacie was startled out of her appraisal as her eyes were drifting down Beca's back when the blind girl stopped singing and said, "Stacie… Was there something else you needed?"

Stacie's eyes fluttered shut briefly at the pure sexiness in the flirtatious tone Beca had taken. Stacie knew that Beca was well aware of how that question could be taken, and it made the taller girl's skin prickle in anticipation. Stepping fully into the shower and shutting the curtain behind her, Stacie watched as Beca slowly turned, her head canted to one side with one eyebrow quirked upwards and a smirk on her face. It was as though the shorter girl knew that Stacie had just slowly and very deliberately swept her gaze up and down her fellow freshman's naked, wet body, and had liked what she'd seen.

"Yeah, actually there was… You see, there's this one spot that I just can't manage to get properly. I was hoping you'd have better luck." The sultry tone in which the taller girl uttered those words caused Beca to shiver, and Stacie to smile. She wasn't a novice when it came to being sexy as fuck, either.

"Well, if you're sure you can't get the job done properly… I guess I better lend a hand." Beca said, taking a step toward the brunette and tilting her head upwards. Stacie saw, though, that as aggressive as Beca was being with her words, the shorter girl still paused a scant few inches from where their skin would touch. Making sure that Stacie was the one who started anything, making sure Stacie was truly ok with this.

The taller girl didn't even hesitate to think about how Beca knew to stop where she had, so close to Stacie that they were almost pressed into each other, but far enough away that she could have backed off if she'd wanted to. Stacie didn't want to. She _definitely_ didn't want to.

Slipping her hands around Beca's waist, she pulled the blind girl to her and at the same time, crashed their lips together. All of the feelings she'd been battling with for nearly 24 hours melted away the second she felt Beca's lips on hers. For the briefest half of a heartbeat they both stood stock still, and then they moved. Lips caressing and pressing into lips and hands gliding over slick, hot skin. Stacie's head was buzzing.

She wasn't sure if it was her tongue or Beca's that had first brushed lightly over the other's lower lip, which yielded an open and inviting target. At first Stacie was the aggressor, her tongue sliding into Beca's mouth as she pushed the shorter girl against the shower wall, and Beca moaned in response. It only lasted a few minutes though, minutes in which Stacie felt her front sliding over Beca's with delicious abandon as the shorter girl squirmed under her touch. Before Stacie realized what was happening the shorter girl was muscling her back, her tongue deftly gliding into Stacie's mouth with surprising ease as the blind girl took control. Stacie felt her own back come into contact with the opposite wall of the shower and she growled her pleasure at how easily the much smaller girl had maneuvered her around.

Stacie felt heat and arousal already pooling low in her stomach, a sure sign that this wasn't stopping short of someone screaming the other's name. The tall girl was more than fine with that. Her growl turned into a low moan as she felt Beca's hands creep up her stomach, fingers dancing gracefully over toned muscles, until the tips just barely brushed the bottoms of Stacie's breasts. At her encouraging moan the fingers moved higher until Beca's hands were covering, or attempting to cover, the generous swells of the taller girl's chest and Stacie was arching into the small hands. She felt her nipples poking into Beca's palms and became suddenly aware of how painfully stiff and demanding of attention they suddenly were.

The shorter girl seemed to understand as her hands moved subtly and Stacie's attention was soon taken by Beca's wet fingers trying to capture equally wet nipples in her delicate grasp. The taller girl tore her mouth away from Beca's, Stacie's breath coming in ragged pants and gasps as she moaned, "Jesus… Beca…"

Stacie felt the smaller girl grin smugly against the skin of her neck before teeth raked over the skin. Needing to turn the tables and get a hold of herself, Stacie caught both of Beca's hands in her own and with her hand on the shorter girl's hip, pushed Beca back into the opposite wall as she bent and covered one of Beca's nipples with her mouth. The low grunt of pleasure from the blind girl sent another shot of arousal through her and wet heat surged in her center, begging if not demanding immediate attention.

Releasing Beca's hands, and feeling them immediately twine into her hair and hold her head in place, Stacie brought her other hand down and firmly squeezed the neglected breast briefly before imitating the shorter girl's earlier action and trying to capture the elusively slippery nipple between her fingers. Her other hand she slow slowly dragged across the skin of Beca's hips, nails scratching lightly as she made her intention known. She wanted to give Beca the same courtesy that the other girl had shown her and give her the chance to stop it.

When Beca instead just moaned Stacie's name, panting it out between gasping breaths, and the shorter girl's hips jerked insistently, Stacie smiled around the tender flesh in her mouth and let her hand slide down into warm wetness. Shower sex wasn't a new thing to Stacie, but it always amazed her how with girls it was so easy to distinguish between the water and the other moisture that had accumulated due to her ministrations. And there was indeed a plentiful amount of moisture to be had.

Teasingly the taller girl let the tip of her middle finger slide along Beca's lips, feeling how the shorter girl arched both upwards as though trying to force more of her nipple into Stacie's other hand, and at the same time downward, trying to feel more pressure where she obviously wanted it the most. After passing twice both up and down over each lip, Stacie finally let herself slide between them, just enough to feel exactly how wet the other girl was.

"Damnit, Stacie… Just fucking… God…" Beca said, her voice ragged and husky with unrestrained desire as her hips moved wildly, seeking more contact with the other girl's hand. Stacie, after hearing the desperation in Beca's voice, relented and finally slipped one finger further inside, letting her palm grind briefly against the other girl's clit. The answering moan was reward enough, and Stacie felt like she'd do almost anything to hear that sound again.

So she decided to try. Withdrawing her finger slowly she pushed it back in, making sure to rub her hand over Beca's clit as she did so. The moan was quieter the second time, but no less arousing and encouraging. Slowly developing a rhythm, Stacie kept her hand in constant motion, her finger curling inside Beca, as her other hand continued to pursue the elusive nipple. Beca's breath rapidly became heavier and heavier, each breath being drawn raggedly, one after another. Her hands, still gripped tightly in Stacie's hair, twitched, clenching and unclenching her fists as Stacie felt the other girl's orgasm swiftly approaching.

Wanting to hear that particular sound more than she was willing to admit, Stacie increased the speed of her finger. When she knew that Beca was on the brink, she drew her finger back, and added a second as she thrust them back up inside her. Stacie winced as the shorter girl's head thudded back against the wall of the shower, the noise lost in the cry of pleasure as Beca's orgasm broke hard and fast. Stacie felt the other girl's walls squeezing her finger, the muscles fluttering rapidly along the length of her digits and, just for good measure, bit down on the nipple her tongue had so recently been teasing.

Beca's fists, still in her hair, clawed at the back of Stacie's head in what the taller girl took to be a very good manner, though she did wonder if Beca had drawn blood. It was a fleeting thought, however, as the feeling of the shorter girl shuddering in her arms drew her attention. As the tidal wave of pleasure ebbed, Stacie found herself half supporting Beca against the shower wall as the girl leaned in a boneless mess and collected herself.

Once it seemed like the shorter girl was able to support her own weight, Stacie leaned back a little and withdrew her fingers before lifting them to her mouth. With a pleased moan at what she'd done, the tall brunette carefully licked her digits clean before saying, "I'm not sure if that was the spot, but it was definitely what I needed."

Beca, still a little dazed apparently by the orgasm she'd just had, chuckled weakly and said, "Well, give me three seconds here and I'll see if I can't help you find the spot. I'm pretty sure I know what it needs."

The taller girl felt her knees go a little weak as Beca's tongue quickly darted out to lick her lips, which Beca then caught between her teeth. Whatever came next, and Stacie surely hoped it was her, it was going to be fun indeed.

Except that as Beca finally went to push herself off the wall, Stacie heard the door to the hallway open and a pair of high, female voices ring out, echoing through the showers. Stacie, shock and amused surprise on her face, looked at Beca for a moment before realizing the other girl couldn't see her face. Leaning in close she whispered, "Well… How do you wanna play this?"

"Sounds like they're… Yeah, they're stopping on the other side." Beca, her head once more canted to the side as she listened. Straining her own ears, Stacie could just barely hear that the voices had in fact stopped, and she also thought she heard a shower curtain slide open. Still, she stepped back away from Beca just slightly as the shorter girl stood up straighter and said, "I really, really want to help you get that spot, but I'm thinking we'll have to take it back to the room… If that's ok with you?"

Stacie smiled, painfully aware of exactly how turned on she was right now and how she almost didn't care if those other girls overheard. Instead of answering she took one of Beca's hands and, very carefully ran one of the shorter girl's fingers through the wetness that both girls knew hadn't coming from the showerhead. Pulling the finger up, Stacie licked it clean before saying, "You'll have to wait for your taste. Now let's finish up in here."

With a final, searing hot kiss, Stacie stepped completely away from Beca, turned and peeked out of the shower, looking both ways before ducking back into her own. Her body was hyper aware of everything, the stinging droplets of water impacting against her skin was keeping her brain on overdrive as she adjusted the temperature just a little bit cooler. They did still have to make it back to Beca's room after all.

Bending down she reached for the shampoo bottle at apparently the same time that Beca did, and feeling the other girl's skin touching her own caused Stacie to draw in a sharp gasp. On the other side of the barrier she heard Beca chuckle and say quietly, "Patience…"

Stacie really wanted to tell Beca to fuck patience and then fuck her and to hell with whoever might be listening. But she had a feeling that the shorter girl wasn't quite as adventurous as she was. Still, she could wait… A very short while. Reaching instead for the body wash, Stacie squeezed out a generous portion and then barely stifled a moan as she started to rub it all over herself.

And by "barely" she really meant not even at all. Thankfully, based on the continued chattering coming from the other side of the showers, the two unknown girls hadn't noticed. But Beca had, because Stacie heard a snort of laughter and a muffled, "Wow, I have a feeling you won't last long once we get back… I'll cross my fingers for endurance though."

"Challenge accepted." Stacie said, her hands rubbing the body wash all over herself quickly before she paused. Leaning close to the barrier she slid her hands up over her stomach and started massaging her own boobs despite them being more than soapy enough, and with her mouth right beside the cheap, plastic barrier moaned again and called out Beca's name.

She smiled to herself when she heard Beca's softly whispered, "Jesus, fuck… That's dangerous, woman, holy shit."

She heard, over her own chuckles, an obvious increase in pace in the stall next to her and decided that she could use conditioner tomorrow. A quick rinse under the cool spray washed off the soapy body wash and Stacie bent quickly to grab the shampoo. In what might have been the fastest shampooing ever, the busty girl managed to keep her hands strictly in her hair as she worked up a lather and rinsed it out just as fast. As she was clearing her eyes she heard the water turn off beside her and realized that Beca must have had the same thought, that privacy was definitely required in the immediate future.

Shutting off her own water, she reached for one of the towels and gave herself a quick and perfunctory pat dry before wrapping the towel around her head. Reaching out she grabbed a robe and pulled it on before stepping out to the walkway that ran alongside the showers to see Beca already leaning against the barrier, smirking at her.

"You ready to go?" Stacie asked, reaching out and taking one of Beca's hands. The shorter girl's smirk grew at the huskiness of Stacie's voice that the taller girl just couldn't disguise. Slipping her hand up to Stacie's elbow, Beca grasped hold, her hand trembling just slightly which gave away her anxious desire to get out of the room. Grabbing the last of their shower stuff, the two girls made their way quickly back to Beca's room.

The door had barely closed before the shower caddy hit the floor and Stacie felt herself pushed onto the bed by the shorter girl. She was already panting when she hit the mattress and her nerve endings were singing with delight as Beca slowly untied her robe. Based on the intense expression of concentration on the blind girl's face, Stacie knew she was in for a long night.


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Hey everyone, back again with another chapter of The Devil of Barden. I hope you guys like it, and I'm sorry it took so long. Real life has a way of interrupting my writing schedule at the worst possible times. And there's also some blame to toss at Zap for this one, which is why he wrote his own note here.

 **Zap's Note:** This delay is on me. My sleep schedule's gotten all messed up and a friend was going to drop off her laptop for me to fix yesterday, and I just got too tired to do the beta. Then this morning bed was comfortable so I lounged there longer than I should have, and I also had Star Trek Online things that took priority. Hope you enjoy it, no clue what will come next, but I've got a question. Anyone seen Pushing Daises?

 **A/N:** So, yeah, that was his thing. I don't have much else to say except thank you ever for your continued support of this and my other stories. Hearing that you guys enjoy what I'm (or we in some cases) are doing makes it much more enjoyable to continue doing it. So if you like it, if you don't like it, if you have questions, leave a comment and I'll do my best to get back to you on them. Thanks everyone, and enjoy the latest chapter!

* * *

 **The Devil of Barden - Chapter 4**

The quiet shutting of the massive, oak front doors sound deafeningly loud in the thunderous silent that filled the large hall. Dozens of rows of wooden pews stretched forward towards the raised dais at the end of the room. Hanging there, above the raised stands that currently stood empty of their choir was a large carving that Beca had a feeling was set in a way to gaze disapprovingly over the empty church.

After the reverberations of the massive doors closing quieted down, Beca continued to stand near the entrance and just take in the feeling of the stillness around her. There were very few places in which Beca, with her extremely heightened senses could stand and find a moment of peace, but she had usually found such solace in older Catholic churches such as this one. And Beca could use a bit of solace right then, and perhaps a little guidance.

It had been over a week since her little tryst with Stacie in the shower had ended up many hours later with the two of them falling in exhaustion to her sheet covered bed. A few hours of sleep had followed before Beca had been awoken by Stacie turning over in the bed. Just shy of two hours later Stacie had left Beca's room to go change and get her own shower supplies. The tall brunette's words had fairly succinctly summed up the situation as she'd said, "That was fun. Maybe we should do it again sometime…"

Beca hadn't answered. She'd simply lain on the bed and contemplated the past, the present, and the future. She'd spent a lot of time contemplating over the few days that had followed. Stacie had shown up later that afternoon right as Jesse and Benji had knocked on her door. The two boys were delighted to see them both and insisted that the pizza they'd missed yesterday had been the best ever. So after a little cajoling, the two girls had agreed to go for pizza. Taking her queue from Stacie's behavior Beca and the brunette had gone back to acting like they had the day before, friendly and a little flirty.

But Beca had noticed something else that hadn't been there the day before. Stacie seemed much calmer in the presence of the two boys. If Beca was one to lie to herself she'd have told her that she'd hoped that would be the outcome of their little tryst, giving Stacie back some of the confidence she had only projected during the day. But Beca wouldn't lie and say that that had been her primary reason.

Still, it was good to know that the taller girl was recovering from whatever ordeal she'd gone through. Beca wished she could have said the same thing for herself. While it wasn't Beca who'd been accosted by those frat boys at the Activities Fair, she had heard, had felt what Stacie had been going through. She also had a bad feeling about the situation.

Which was how she had found herself the following night dressing in black clothes and slipping from her dorm to slink across the campus. Most people, she had realized over the years, were more blind in the dark than Beca had been just after the accident. Still, it was useful though, for when she had been sneaking across the crowded campus towards what she hoped was the frat house of Sigma Beta Theta.

Finding the frat house had been easy enough, it seemed like there was a party going on there every night basically. At least that's the impression Beca had gotten as she had watched the place fairly solidly for the next few nights. It wasn't until the Tuesday before classes had started that Beca had noticed something that stood out to her.

She'd overheard a conversation between two SBT members, Howie and someone else she hadn't known, about getting more supplies. Howie had said cryptically that they were "running low" and would need more product if they were to "keep up with the demand". The other guy, the one she hadn't heard before or since, had said that there were some problems with the supply, something or someone kept catching their couriers and beating them up, but that a big shipment had just gotten through, so they'd have more product soon.

Beca had been about to move, to go and have a little chat with the two, but she'd heard them start walking away, back towards the party. At the same time, she was having a serious internal war about how to approach the matter. On the one hand the lawyer-to-be in her wanted her to take it to the legal system. And if campus security was turning a blind eye to it all as it seemed then she'd have to go above them to Vestal PD. The other part of her, the part which had become more dominant since she'd met Stacie, wanted her to rush over and beat the information out of Howie and his friend.

That internal debate was how she had found herself where she was. Her superhumanly acute hearing taking in all the noises of the large Catholic church just off the campus of Barden. Despite many of the things she did, especially those with whom she sought comfort and release, Beca still considered herself a devout Catholic. Up until the time she'd left Hell's Kitchen she had attended mass fairly regularly, and her priest had even told her, when she'd mentioned moving to Binghamton with her father, that a good friend of his was the bishop at the local church closest to Barden.

As she started walking up the aisle, her cane tapping along the floor, she heard soft voices coming from the confessional booth, if what she was hearing was any indication. Knowing that it could be sometime before the person in there was finished, Beca found a seat for herself about halfway up.

Sitting on the pew, she quietly folded her cane up and laid it beside her before taking a deep breath and turning towards the front of the room. She couldn't see the large carving hanging there, but she didn't need her gifts to tell her that it was. This was a Catholic church, after all. For a moment she considered trying to say some half-remembered prayer, to ask her questions of the man who hung before her. But she had found that wasn't always the answer to her problems. And she was fairly certain it wouldn't be the answer to this one.

Instead she closed her eyes, more out of habit than anything else, and began to meditate. As she did, her thoughts drifted back to the times she'd spent in churches just like this one in Hell's Kitchen. Some of them were good memories, others were more difficult. The hardest ones were the ones that held her mother.

In a delicious twist of irony, Beca at least had to give Him some credit for enjoying a funny joke, her thoughts were still embroiled in past recollections of her mom when she heard the door to the confessional open and the girl who had been in there stepped out. She didn't seem to notice Beca as she moved to the front of the large room and started to do whatever penance the priest had proscribed. Beca stood and unfolded her cane, making her way relatively quietly towards the now half empty confessional.

It was a fairly short walk, and Beca still wasn't sure what she was going to say, how she was going to get the help she needed, when she finally opened her side of the wooden chamber. Well, jumping into things headfirst without a plan had always been one of her strongest traits, so she decided to do just that. Taking a seat on the bench, she folded up the cane once more as she heard the little door covering the screen between the two sides of the confessional slide open. Opening her mouth she jumped right in to what was on her mind.

"Bless me Father, for I have sinned. It's been, uh…" Beca paused, unsure exactly how long it had been since she'd given a confession. One of the things she knew, though, is that lying while sitting in this chair was one of the stupidest things you could do. While there may be judgment in the extreme everywhere else, while inside the confessional there was only forgiveness and guidance. Running her left thumb nervously over her right she started up again, "It's been too long since my last confession. My mom and I, we used to go to this church back in New York when I was a kid. She was a fighter. Old school. A boxer. She lost more than she won. Had a 24-31 record before she, uh…"

Just thinking about her mom brought a smile to Beca's lips, albeit a sad one. The sadness overcame her for a moment as she thought about how that sentence ended and she couldn't go on. She wasn't sure why she was going this far back for just a confession. But something about it felt right. Through the screen she could hear the priest sitting quietly, shifting ever so slightly as she gathered her thoughts and came back from the sad memories. Inhaling deeply she went on, "But she could take a punch. Jesus she could take a punch."

"Language." The old priest said and she couldn't help a slight wince. Memories of Catholic discipline bloomed in her mind before she dismissed it with a nod of her head.

"Sorry, Father." Picking up the thread of her story took a second, but since so much of it was ingrained in her memory it wasn't hard to find her way back. After a moment's pause she went on, "Yeah, some of the people she went up against said it was like hitting oak. And on nights when she was outmatched, her strategy was to just let 'em hit her until they broke their hands."

She wasn't sure why she found that to be so amusing, but she found herself chuckling at the thought. Maybe it was more at the memories of seeing her mom come home to their dilapidated apartment and being able to see, then later smell, the blood on her. But her mom was almost always smiling, despite how much pain she must have been in.

"She never got knocked out, my mom. Well, knocked down, sure. But she, uh, she always got back up. She was always on her feet when she lost." Beca paused for a second, because she realized now why this story had been on the tip of her tongue. She had a feeling she could see now where her subconscious was taking her. With a slight smirk she said, "Every now and then, though, uh…"

Even knowing why she was telling the story Beca had to pause. To think carefully about how to phrase it. After a second she said, "Every now and then she'd get hit and… Something inside her would snap. My grandmother, she was the real Catholic. Fear of God ran deep. You'd have liked her. She used to say, 'Be careful of the Murdock boys. They got the Devil in 'em."

Beca couldn't help but chuckle again slightly. She hadn't thought of her grandma in years. It was surprising how quickly her thoughts went there now that she was back in a place that so reminded her of the old woman. Knowing she had a point to make, and other business to attend to that night, she picked up the thread of her story again, "Well, my mom wasn't a Murdock boy, but she was still a Murdock, and you'd see it sometimes… In the ring. Her eyes would just go dead and she'd start walking forward real slow… Hands at her sides, like she wasn't afraid of anything. And whoever she was fighting, they'd see that look, and try to get away from her."

"Nah. Mom would, she'd catch 'em and… tr-trap 'em in the corner. Let the devil out. Yeah…" Beca said quietly, pausing to swallow. It was weird, being back in a confessional. She didn't normally spend so much time talking, let alone talking about herself. But in here, well, that was kind of what you did. Except she wasn't, really, she wasn't exactly looking for forgiveness for something she'd done… Inhaling against she started to speak again, "Now, I didn't understand it, you know? What she was feeling deep inside, I didn't understand it… Not back then."

"But you understand it now?" The priest's voice was quiet and powerful. A man who was used to giving advice and having it listened to. Beca wondered briefly how long he had tended to this particular flock, but dismissed the notion. She knew she was nearly finished, and it would soon be time to do what had to be done. The priest, in typical fashion, said the thing that Beca had known would come from the moment she stepped into the booth, "Perhaps this would be easier if you tell me what you've done."

With an amused smile on her face that she knew he could see, Beca reached down to her lap and took up her red-tinted glasses and slowly put them on. After another deep breath and a moment of quiet thought she said, "I'm not seeking penance for what I've done, Father. I'm asking forgiveness for what I'm about to do."

"That's not how this works." The priest said, shock in his voice. Beca heard him turn in the booth beside her. She could almost feel his gaze on her through the screen as he asked, "What exactly are you going to do?"

"I may not be a Murdock boy, either. But I'm also still a Murdock." Beca said with finality before standing up. Taking her cane in her hand she quickly opened the door to the confessional and made her way towards the exit. Behind her she heard the door to the priest's side open up and heard him step out. He didn't call after her, but she knew that he watched her all the way to the exit of the large church.

* * *

The grand double doors leading into the Sigma Beta Theta house slammed open hard enough to rebound off the walls forcefully, but the figure who strode through them did so with such speed that they were slamming shut well clear of her. Her blond hair was almost streaming behind her in the wind as she stalked into the halls of Barden's most prestigious fraternity with fury etched onto her face. One advantage of the frat being the most popular on campus, Aubrey noted as she heard someone bounding down the stairs, was that it wasn't hard to find someone when she needed to. Thankfully instead of an intermediary, the boy she was looking for came down the curving stairs leading to the upper levels.

"Aubrey, always a pleasure to see you." The man, Howie, said as he stepped off the bottom step and moved towards the blond girl. He opened his arms up, no doubt expecting a hug, but instead she punched him in the side, hard. Grunting and gasping for breath he took a step back, clutching his side.

"Asshole! I told you to leave my girls alone!" Aubrey said, silent fury seething through her tone. The blond didn't follow Howie as he stepped back again and leaned on the railing of the stairs. She simply glared at him and hoped that that would be enough to drive her point home. Straightening up, Howie smirked at her, though it was ruined as he winced before getting to his full height.

"Awww, come on now Bree, don't be like that. I know for a fact that no one has bothered you or Chloe from my house. If I'm wrong, tell me who it was and I'll take care of it." The tall brown haired boy said, his eyes drifting over Aubrey as he spoke. The blond had to take a moment and mentally count down from ten to avoid punching him again and it nearly didn't work. Taking a deep breath instead she told herself not to make a scene as surely he wasn't the only SBT in the house.

"Not Chloe or I, Howie. Stacie…" Aubrey said when she had composed herself enough. She should have known that it wouldn't have been enough information for him. At least his facial expression told her that he was even more clueless than normal. Rolling her eyes she added, "You know, tall brunette you guys were hassling at the Activities Fair?"

"Oh, the one with the nice tits. Yeah, she's a hottie for sure. But wait, she can't be a Bella. She's only a freshmen and auditions aren't until next week." Howie said, a dreamy smile filling his face as he obviously remembered Stacie, or at least her tits. Aubrey gritted her teeth and turned to take a few steps away before she lost control. Choosing instead to lean against the small table in the entryway she turned back to see him still lost in thoughts of the tall brunette freshman.

"She may not be official, Howie, but if she can carry a tune in a U-Haul truck she'll be a Bella if I have anything to say about it. Which, oh yeah, I do. I saw some of your idiot frat brothers pestering her outside the English building yesterday. She was not amused by their antics…" Aubrey said, her mind drifting back to the scene of an extremely nervous looking Stacie surrounded by three SBT logo wearing boys who were all standing far too close if anyone asked the blond.

She had been about to go over and rescue Stacie like she'd tried to do at the Fair, but the short, blind girl had emerged from the building and called Stacie over before Aubrey could make her way to her. The guys had drifted off, looking disappointed, but Stacie had seemed immensely relieved to be away from them, if the hug she gave the short girl was anything to judge by.

Aubrey had had to work real hard to ignore the jealousy she felt at the sight.

"Well damn, if she's going to be a Bella, then I can't wait to see your guys' performance here. You still planning to be here for the party on the 19th, right?" The taller boy asked as he moved away from the stairs towards Aubrey. The blond was too caught up in her memory of the scene outside the English building to notice until he was almost to her.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. We'll be here. Everyone knows that SBT throws the best parties on campus…" Aubrey said, taking a small step back. She glanced at her watch briefly as she did, realizing that she had to get back to her apartment soon or Chloe would worry about it. Before she could say anything, Howie's hand closed over her wrist and her eyes snapped up to his.

"Awww, come on Bree, don't be like that. Why don't you come inside and hang out for a bit. It would be like old times when the Bellas were here all the time under Alice. I promise, I'll be a real gentleman even." The smug look on his face as spoke, leaning in to try and kiss her, was enough to snap her fragile restraint.

Before Howie had even barely started to lean in towards her she whipped her leg out, impacting it solidly against the inside of his thigh. As expected it dropped the taller boy to his knees. Even as he was dropping she was twisting her wrist down and around, turning it so that she had a firm grip on his hand which was wrenched at a most painful angle as he dropped. Using the arm as leverage, she spun around and got a hand against his neck, pressing it into the table she'd been standing behind.

In less than a heartbeat it was done. Howie was gasping in pain, his face pressed firmly against the lacquered wood of the table, as his hand was about a degree from being broken by Aubrey's hold on it. Leaning in close she hissed at him, "I know you had an 'arrangement' with Alice, but I'm telling you now that won't fly with me. You keep your hands off me, and off of my Bellas, or next time I won't hold back."

Releasing his neck and wrist Aubrey stepped back, not even breathing hard as Howie collapsed to his knees. Rubbing his wrist, he groaned in pain for a second before turning to glare up at her. Hate was replacing the usual lust she saw in his eyes as he looked up at her, she only smiled at him. Using his uninjured hand he leveraged himself to his feet as he said menacingly, "Oh yeah? What are you gonna do, bitch? I could…"

"You could, what? Tell everyone that a five-foot nothing girl just took your ass down? And don't think it was a fluke, either. Leave the Bellas alone… But don't worry, we won't cancel our performance here, an SBT party is still the place to be." Aubrey said, flashing a confident grin at him before turning on her heel and leaving the frat house.

Aubrey fumed the entire way from the SBT house to her and Chloe's apartment. She didn't know what she was more pissed off about, though, whether at Howie for being a complete ass, the reason she'd gone there in the first place, or what she'd just done. She only hoped that the threat of having to admit that a Barden Bella took him down and almost broke his wrist would be enough to keep Howie from saying anything. She was supposed to be keeping a low profile here. Just do her four years, then off to the Air Force.

Of course, Aubrey had known for many years that being angry got you in trouble, made you make mistakes. She realized hers as soon as she walked into the apartment she shared with Chloe. Her best friend in the whole world came bounding out of the kitchen, cell phone clutched in her hand, and panic in her eyes that was fading to relief.

But turned immediately to concern the moment she saw Aubrey's face, and the raw emotion painted on it.

"Oh my god, Bree! Are you ok? I was so worried. You were supposed to be home, like, an hour ago… Why are you so upset? Did something happen? Were you attacked or something? Oh my god, do I need to call the cops?!" Chloe's words tumbled out in a mangled rush of crammed together syllables, but Aubrey had had four years of piecing together excited-Chloe-speech and was able to decipher it fairly quickly.

"What? No, no, calm down Chlo'. I'm fine. I'm perfectly fine. I, uh, had to run an errand on the way home. Sorry I didn't text." The blond said, quickly forestalling the phone call that Chloe was already starting to make by grabbing the redhead's phone. After she took the device and set it on one of the end tables nearby Chloe stepped forward and gave her a hug. She wasn't really sure why, but with Chloe there rarely needed to be a reason.

"Oh thank god. I was freaking out a little… Uh, what'd you have to do that was so urgent? Bellas stuff?" Chloe asked after giving her another squeeze and then stepping back to only arm-holding distance. The innocent, curious expression on her friend's face froze her brain as she tried to come up with an excuse for why she was late. After a second she realized that she'd walked herself into a corner and would have to tell at least a bit of the truth.

"Oh it was nothing. Yes, Bellas related. I just had to swing by SBT to make sure we're still on for their party in a couple weeks." Aubrey said, waving her hand dismissively as though it wasn't a big deal. She was hoping that Chloe would forget the conversation and not mention it to anyone, especially Howie.

"Ooooh. You run into Howie? You know, I think he's got a thing for you, Bree. You should live a little and let him take you out or something." Chloe said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she turned to follow Aubrey into the kitchen. Thankfully, with the redhead behind her, she didn't have to worry about hiding the disgusted look on her face.

"Gross, Chlo'. Howie is _so_ not my type. Besides, we've talked about this. I'm not here at Barden for random hookups. School is my focus, and we're almost done. Come on, let's get some dinner made then we can go over our plans for the new Bellas…" She hoped Chloe didn't notice the evasion, hoped that the prospect of Bellas talk overrode any conversation about her love life that the redhead might have had in mind. She really didn't feel like going into how Howie, or anyone guy for that matter, were really not her type at all. Thankfully the distraction of talking about the Bellas seemed to work, though, as the other girl started yammering away about what they'd need to fill their sound out, how many girls they wanted to bring on, how many of each type. It was enough to help distract Aubrey from her earlier encounter, which she was thankful for, and it was something that they needed to work on. So two birds, one conversation.

* * *

Like a comfortable blanket night had once again settled over Barden University and wrapped the school in its dark embrace. But despite the night's best attempts to keep everyone cozy and warm inside their dorms, the school still bustled. Whether it was because it was still early in the term and the weather was still relatively warm out, or simply because it seemed that there was always one party or another going on around campus it was hard to tell. However the simple fact remained that just because it was night it did not mean that the campus was quiet. Quieter, for sure, as it didn't take Beca's enhanced senses to know that it got a bit quieter at night. But there were still folks out and about.

But the nice thing about the night, as far as Beca was concerned, was that most people paid far less attention to things that were a little outside the ordinary. Like a blind freshman dashing along the rooftops of the dorms and leaping the gaps between buildings.

She hadn't really had much of a plan, despite having been studying the things that happened at night for over a week now. Dressed from head to toe in black with her hood pulled up over her head as much as possible, Beca still felt awfully exposed. But she didn't have much choice, she had a reason for being out tonight. It was Friday night, the main party night of the week as it gave a full weekend to recover, and there was a party she really wanted to crash.

Well, maybe not crash per se, but disrupt at least a little bit.

The day after she and Stacie had tested out the acoustics in the showers, Beca's extremely heightened hearing had picked up a plan being formed. She hadn't known the voices at the time, but they had spoken about a party this Friday and "needing willing participants". It hadn't taken a genius to figure out how they got those willing participants after hearing Stacie's ordeal. And that was something that Beca couldn't tolerate. So she had found the best things she could for sneaking about, and was now sneaking about.

As she lingered on a rooftop near the quad, Beca cocked her head to the side, all her attention focused on listening. From this vantage point she was able to hear just about everything that went on across the campus, and it took some effort of will for her inner musician to not cringe at some of the _really_ bad music that was playing. But punishing people's taste in music wasn't why she was here. She wasn't sure, actually, what she was listening for, but she was hoping that it would become apparent soon enough.

When she finally did hear it, the voice she knew she'd recognize, it was a lot closer than she had expected. From what she'd been able to deduce of the campus layout, she was currently perched atop one of the freshmen and sophomore dorm buildings. Something she had planned ahead of time knowing that that was likely where the voices she'd heard would be looking for said participants. But it still surprised her to hear the guy's voice who had said those words, with the special inflection on the word "willing", from near the entrance of the building below her. As soon as she heard it, however, she knew she'd found the right place, because a gentle gust of wind brought along something else aside from his voice.

The smell of chloroform.

It was faint, which means that the voices telling the girls about the "great party" they were off to were still in the process of luring the two girls out away from the dorm. Based on what she'd picked up from Stacie, the taller girl had been reluctant to speak on the matter, Beca figured that they would take them at least a little distance away from the well-lit dorms before the two men following the first pair made their move.

Listening briefly Beca determined what would be the best way down towards where the trailing thugs were at, the pair with the chloroform soaked rags, and with some creative jumping and drops made it to the ground floor just as the pair bringing up the rear were moving past where she was. Smiling to herself because she didn't think she could have planned it all better, Beca made her move.

Springing into action she quickly ran at the pair of boys who had just stepped into the shadows of the building. Her footsteps were muffled by the soft grass, a fact she was thankful for, and she knew that with their attention on their friends watching for the signal to move forward the pair wouldn't hear her approach over the sounds emanating from the dorm behind her.

She was only feet from the trailers when one of them must have heard her, because he was just starting to turn as she leapt in, straight at him. Her heavy booted foot slammed into the side of his face as she spun, hitting the ground quietly even as his body crumpled to the ground beside her. His friend stared in blank shock as the body bounced once, limbs falling akimbo. Beca was moving before he had even really taken her in.

From where she had landed, crouched on outstretched hands and knees, she skirted sideways towards him, her right leg darting out to impact his left knee. Beca did hear the telltale sounds of bone breaking and was unsure of whether to be happy or sad about that. She didn't take time to dwell on it, however, as the second of the two trailing men started falling to the ground.

Before he'd even settled, his body was still bouncing up after the initial impact, which had driven the wind from his lungs in a gasping rush, Beca was already climbing on top of him. A couple quick, hard strikes soon had him as unconscious as his partner in crime. That just left the two up front.

Apparently, however, her little scuffle with the pair intending to ambush the unsuspecting girls hadn't gone unnoticed. She could hear the girls confused questions about what was going on. Meanwhile it seemed that the pair upfront weren't entirely unprepared for interference. They had backed off a little from the girls, who were obviously confused by what was going on, and seemed hesitant to move at all.

Standing up straight, and wishing not for the first time that she was just a little bit taller, Beca turned to face the two men. Though boys might be more accurate as men didn't abduct women in the night, but that was a debate for the philosophy class she was making a point of skipping and not one she should really worry about at the moment. Turning to face the two confused girls she tried to make her voice as husky and deep as she could manage as she said, "Get out of here. You don't want any part of the 'party' these thugs were taking you to."

One of the pair still seemed a little unsure, but the second girl had finally noticed something Beca had detected almost as soon as the guys had started to back away from them. A drawn knife from underneath his jacket. She could still smell the oil he used to polish the blade wafting through the warm, night air. The girl who had seen it, probably by the glint of light from the nearby buildings, screamed and grabbed her friend's arm, dragging her off. They would no doubt head for campus security, but Beca didn't have much faith in them showing up to help anytime soon.

"So… You must be the bitch that attacked some of our other guys a couple nights ago. Description doesn't really fit, but it doesn't matter. You'll learn soon enough to leave us alone… We need some new entertainment for the night, since you scared off those other two, and I think you'll do just fine, once we get you back and get you into the right state of mind at least." The obvious leader, the one wielding the knife, said coldly. It was the same voice she'd recognized from earlier, the one from the other day. Cracking her knuckles, Beca smiled from under her hood even though she knew he wouldn't be able to see it in this light. She was going to enjoy this, she thought.

Without any preamble Beca charged at the pair, feinting first towards the man with the knife before quickly reversing her course and leaping towards the other. His first punch she dodged easily which put her into a good position for the follow-up she'd known was coming. Grabbing his wrist, she pulled him, using his own momentum against him, and slammed her knee up into his chest. Even as he was gasping, trying to catch his breath, she whirled and, using his arm for leverage, propelled him at the second man who had been coming up behind her.

The pair collided about five feet away, and Beca leapt into action. The first man, the unarmed one, was still trying to catch his breath, which gave her a chance to try and take the knifeman out of the picture. He was faster than his friends had been, however, and she barely managed to dodge the blade as it shot through the night, ripping at the air as it went. A second slash she dodged, followed by a third, trying to find an opening in his all-out attack to get inside his reach and somehow wrench the blade from his grasp. She finally got the chance as he wheeled back for a fourth strike, she could tell that the third, a powerful downward blow towards her head, had unbalanced him slightly, so she moved to capitalize on it.

It wasn't until she was moving in for her own counterattack that she realized something was wrong. His balance, which had previously been precariously set, suddenly changed and she heard the movement of his arm as it started to move. The man's feint had been well executed, but Beca was still quick as lightning. Twisting herself she tried to drop lower, hoping to avoid the knife blade whose polishing oil she could smell, but the sudden stinging streak along her left arm told her that she hadn't completely avoided the blow. Still, it didn't feel too deep, and that attack actually had left him off balance.

Quickly striking out, Beca snapped a kick at the man's knee, which staggered him enough for her to lash out with her right hand. Her aim, though not as precise as she'd have liked, was still good enough to hit a nerve on his arm. She knew, thanks to years of training, that his right hand had just gone completely numb, and the quiet sounds of the knife falling to thud into the damp grass confirmed it. Now suddenly disarmed, the boy backed up, yelling at his friend for help.

Seemingly mostly recovered from her blow that cracked his ribs, the other boy stepped up to join his friend. Before the pair had a chance to try and coordinate, to come at her together, Beca choose to act. Moving quickly towards the leader she threw a series of quick punches, more as a distraction than an attempt to do serious damage. Thankfully, due in no small part she figured to the man's still numb right hand, a few of the blows landed. But they were basically just a bonus, because her real target had finally come close enough.

Lashing out backwards with her leg, she caught the other boy, who had charged in to help, directly in his chest. She heard the already bruised ribs crack under the force of her combat-booted foot's impact and heard his breath rush out in a yelp of pain. Spinning quickly she followed the hard kick with two faster, targeted strikes, one to his left leg and the other to where she knew his head would be after the first blow landed. A solid impact against the side of the boy's head was her reward, and she heard his body drop to the ground in a motionless heap. He was still breathing, which was good, but he would be wishing that he had the worst hangover of his life when he woke up because it would be a treat in comparison.

That just left the "leader" of the little group. Turning to face him, she smiled again at the fact that he hadn't really moved from his previous position. Granted her takedown of his final accomplice had only taken a few seconds, but she was still a little surprised. She realized, quickly, that it had finally dawned on him that he was now alone with her. Looking quickly left and right, he did what she expected him to do. He turned and ran.

Bullies almost always run when confronted and outmatched.

A sharp pain in her own left arm stopped her from chasing after the final thug. She knew she needed to take care of it sooner rather than later, and she'd gotten her point across, she hoped. If nothing else, she'd saved the two girls from having to go through Stacie's fate, or more likely much worse.

All in all, Beca mused as she turned to head back towards her dorm, it was a pretty good night.


End file.
